Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has directed Sindh Safe Cities Authority to ensure that Phase I of the Karachi Safe City Project is launched within the next two months, declaring public safety in the provincial capital a non negotiable priority. The directive was issued during a high level meeting of Sindh Safe Cities Authority at CM House, where the chief minister underscored the urgency of transitioning the initiative from a development phase into a fully functional authority focused on technology driven urban security and emergency response.
Chairing the session, the chief minister said the provincial government was committed to strengthening digital surveillance and response mechanisms across Sindh, starting with Karachi. He stressed that Karachi Safe City Project must become operational within the stipulated timeline and warned against administrative or technical delays. During the briefing, he was informed that surveys for Safe City projects in Hyderabad and Sukkur had already been completed by National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation, along with assessments for installing smart cameras at key entry and exit points of the province. CM Shah directed authorities to begin preparations for these projects as well and asked for a comprehensive implementation plan with a clear timeline to be submitted for approval, indicating that the Safe City framework would gradually expand beyond Karachi.
The chief minister also focused on the institutional readiness of Sindh Safe Cities Authority, directing that technical experts be hired strictly on merit and based on operational requirements. A dedicated committee was ordered to oversee recruitment to ensure transparency and efficiency. He approved the immediate hiring of 34 specialised technical and administrative professionals, including lead systems architects, backend developers and surveillance officers, to support the multibillion rupee project. To avoid bottlenecks, CM Shah re appropriated Rs200 million within the existing budget, prioritising spending on human resources and patrolling logistics. It was decided that Sindh Safe Cities Authority would temporarily operate from Central Police Office, where Sindh Inspector General of Police Javed Akhtar Odho has allocated a dedicated floor to enable coordination with existing command and control functions and law enforcement operations.
Officials briefed the meeting that Phase I of Karachi Safe City Project includes installation of 1,300 cameras across 300 pole sites, establishment of 18 point of presence sites and deployment of 23 emergency response vehicles to strengthen on ground response. The chief minister was informed that technology installations have been completed and the system is currently in the acceptance trial phase. Sindh Safe Cities Authority Director General Sarfraz Nawaz stated that the core technical infrastructure, including servers, video walls and fibre optic connectivity, was completed on schedule by December 17. He added that the Computer Aided Dispatch system is in the final stages of fine tuning and is expected to demonstrate live facial recognition and automatic number plate recognition capabilities within two weeks, enhancing real time monitoring and rapid response. The meeting was attended by Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar, CM Special Assistant Ali Rashid, MPAs Sumeta Afzal and Syed Sarfraz Shah, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, Home Secretary Iqbal Memon, IG Police Javed Alam Odho, PSCM Agha Wasif and other senior officials, reflecting the administration’s emphasis on coordinated execution of Sindh’s digital public safety agenda.
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