ISLAMABAD: After a number of cables connecting Safe City cameras were damaged by construction around Faizabad, Kashmir Highway and the Expressway, the police has asked the Ministry of Interior to order departments to obtain no objection certificates (NOC) before initiating construction or digging around Safe City equipment installed in the capital.

A senior police officer said various departments carry out digging work for construction, or to lay cables. Such work is also carried out around Safe City equipment and cables.

Other than the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), the project’s executor, and the police, no departments are aware of the location of underground Safe City cables, the officer said. As a result work can damage or cut cables, which puts cameras out of order.

Cables connecting surveillance cameras have previously been damaged in construction, officer says

The officer said these cables are very expensive, and with the lack of funds there is little chance to replace them. Under such circumstances, the police have asked the ministry to make it

mandatory for departments to obtain NOCs from the police before starting work near and around equipment or material.

“The staff of the Safe City project will protect the equipment and material from damage and identify and mark red lines for departments to prevent further damage,” the officer said.

The police have also requested legislation to protect Safe City equipment and material, and responses to both proposals are awaited.

At least 160 Safe City cameras are out-of-order and there is no money to repair them, another police officer told Dawn. The out-of-order cameras are placed in and around Faizabad, the Expressway and Kashmir Highway.

“Digging in these areas for construction damaged material, including cables of the Safe City project,” he said, adding that by early 2017 542 cameras had been non-functional for various reasons.

The Rs6 billion Safe City project was conceived of in 2008, but could not be launched due to the unavailability of funds, interior ministry officials said. The project was completed and inaugurated in 2016.

Nadra and Huawei, a Chinese telecom and IT company, are the project’s executors. Officials said the project is to be handed over to the police after it is completed, which it has not been so far.

A police officer said: “The project will not give the desired result to counter terrorism and crime in the capital.”

A Safe City camera captures a 32 megapixel image, giving police the ability to pick out a face in a crowd even at a 30-metre distance and verify it with the Nadra database.

However, the project has not yet been properly and completely linked to the database, making it difficult for details to be obtained about people picked up from the cameras, the officer said. Images captured in the dark or during rainfall are beyond recognition and identification.

It is also difficult to get details of vehicles using their registration numbers from the Excise and Taxation Department’s database, the officer said, adding that vehicles with 15 different types of registration plates are being driven in the capital but only three can be read or recognised by the Safe City project’s software.

“The budget for Safe City is yet to be approved,” the officer added. Since the installation of the cameras, no maintenance work has been carried out - including the cleaning of the cameras - due to a lack of funding.

The officer said Nadra and the police had sought 64 and 300 staffers, respectively, but were not given them because the budget and staff for the project have not been approved.

Safe City Project Director Kahsan Ahmed, who was appointed by the interior ministry, refused to comment on the matter.

Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2019