KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said the entire metropolis would be covered for monitoring through CCTV cameras under the safe city project.

He stated this during his visit to command & control (C&C) centre which was established in CM House last year.

“At present around 2,000 CCTV cameras have been installed in the metropolis while the entire city, particularly its flashpoints, needed at least 6,000 cameras of the highest resolution,” he added.

The chief minister said the police department has developed some outdoor broadcasting (OB) vans, equipped with highly professional monitoring cameras and recording system. “These vans are used on such occasions,” he said.

On the occasion he was briefed about the equipment and latest gadgets already installed at vantage points for monitoring the city. He was also informed about the functioning of the C&C centre which was connected with 9,000 cameras of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), and of the police department, along with the facility of recording the coverage and issuing direct instructions through its wireless system.

The chief minister himself monitored the movement of processions which were passing through different routes in the city. He also spoke to IG police AD Khwaja, who himself was on the visit, about the processions routes, and inquired about the security arrangements.

“Tomorrow [Muharram 10] is the most important day and must be guarded properly. I will be available as I would also be moving along with people on the routes so keep me informed about each and every moment,” he told the police chief.

The chief minister also appreciated the performance of police, Rangers and other law enforcement agencies saying that they had done an excellent job by providing good security.

“I am proud of you,” he said.

Earlier, in the afternoon the chief minister spoke to chief secretary Siddique Memon and IG Police by telephone and asked them about the security arrangements made all over the province. He urged them to be in close contact with commissioners and DIGs and keep gathering information and issuing necessary instructions to them.

Published in Dawn October 12th, 2016