Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has directed the Planning and Development Board to prepare the PC-1 of the Safe City project so that bids can be invited and the project can be launched within the next four months.

“We are already late in implementing the project and now I won’t allow any unnecessary delays,” he said while presiding over a meeting regarding the matter at the CM House.

Provincial Minister Taimur Talpur, CM Special Assistant on IT Tanzila, Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput, P&D Chairperson Hassan Naqvi, Karachi Additional IG Ghulam Nabi Memon, Home Secretary Saeed Mangnijo, Finance Secretary Sajid Jamal Abro, Safe City Authority (SCA) DG Maqsood Memon and other concerned officials attended the meeting.

SCA was established in January 2022 to implement safe city projects all over Sindh, starting from Karachi in the first phase. At least 10,000 new cameras will be installed in three phases, while the already installed cameras will also be upgraded.

A consultant priced the project at Rs27 billion but according to Memon, it was not a detailed proposal and the consultant will submit another one soon.

Meanwhile, the NRTC, after signing an MOU with the provincial government, submitted Rs29 billion as the estimated cost of the project.

The chief minister directed the Sindh Safe City Project DG to upgrade the existing 2000 cameras within six months for which he approved an amount of Rs1 billion. He also approved a proposal to hand over the 2000 cameras project from Sindh police to Safe City Authority so that it could be upgraded, operated, and maintained.

The P&D Department and SCA DG were directed to revive a USA-sponsored project under which 3000 new cameras were to be installed in the city.

USA INL had approved a $20 million donation to install 3000 cameras in the city during the first phase of the Safe City project.

The chief minister wanted all the cameras up and running within the next two years.

It was decided that the Central Command Centre will be established in a 15-storey building, whereas the regional command centre will be established in a five-storey building at Hassan Square.

Memon updated the CM about the need to dig most of the cities roads to install fibre optic cables. The chief secretary was directed to approach PTCL to see if existing networks would be enough to prevent mass digging.

The finance department was also given directives to release the necessary budget.