Karachi's Safe City project yet to start after 12 years of delay

Karachi's Safe City Project which was supposed to start in 2011 is yet to begin despite the Pakistan Supreme Court order's to launch it in 2016, ARY News reported.

Under the project, 10,000 cameras were to be installed under the joint venture of the Sindh province's government and the National Radio Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC).

Further, the stalling of the project has exponentially increased the estimated cost of the project from PKR 10 billion in 2011 to PKR 40 billion in 2023. This is a rise of 300 percent in the installation cost.

The report by Pakistan-based news organisation ARY News further mentioned, that the committee has held multiple meetings regarding the matter, and the project delay continues. Under the same project, 4,000 cameras were to be installed in the first phase and 6,000 in the next phase. In addition to this, a command center was also planned.

The planned project which is still getting delayed raises security concerns in the city. Notably, the rising cost of the project even become a bigger problem because of the ongoing economic crisis.

Recently, Additional Inspector General of Karachi Police Javed Alam Odho has said that street crime is Karachi's biggest problem.

According to Odho, the Karachi Police has in the last year, arrested 36,000 suspects, mostly street criminals, in connection with various crimes.

With the completion of the Safe City project, a clear reduction in street crime would be witnessed, said Odho.

He also said that they are stressing on cameras being installed in Karachi in collaboration with the public-private sector, adding that the Karachi police have been working on the project for the past four years.

Odho said that Karachi's business community and business organisations are supporting the police in the project.

Earlier, the police had said that 42,669 crime incidents were reported in 2011, 39,694 in 2015, 61,244 in 2020, and 84,045 in 2021.

Moreover, 385 people were killed in 2018 and 393 people in 2021, while 369 suspected killers were arrested till August 31, 2022.

( With inputs from ANI )