KARACHI: Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister retired Justice Maqbool Baqar has reviewd the progress on Karachi Safe City Project and constituted a technical committee to evaluate prices of equipment to be procured for the long-delayed scheme.

The committee, to be headed by the home secretary, would select its technical members from universities, and they would be empowered to delete duplications and insert missing items, said a press release issued from the CM House on Monday.

It said that it was decided in a meeting, chaired by the caretaker CM, that Planning and Development (P&D) chairman Shakil Mangnejo would continue his sessions with the National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC) on different components of the project and their prices.

The chief minister discussed every item and its cost with the NRTC representatives, and they agreed to reduce the cost of the equipment and software.

The CM said that if the NRTC did not agree on prices, the provincial government would prefer to start the civil works, such as construction of ducts, laying optical fibre, installation of poles, and construction of the main building, so that the much-delayed project could be moved forward.

The project was conceived in July 2016. Under the PC-I 10,000 new high-definition cameras would be installed and 2,000 existing cameras would be upgraded. This entire process of installation and upgrade would be completed in five phases.

As per the PC-I, out of 10,000 cameras, 1,044 would be installed in the Red Zone and Airport corridor; 2,425 in South, Malir & East; 2,250 in City, and Central; 2,150 in Korangi and West.

The technical and financial committee would also evaluate and examine the fusion software tools and submit their recommendations within 15 days.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2023