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KARACHI, June 13: City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal has said that use of the recently established city government’s command and control system will be extended to law-enforcement and intelligence agencies for the prevention of crimes and security purposes.
Speaking at a press briefing at the command and control centre on Friday, Mr Kamal said that the project was initially aimed at monitoring and securing civic infrastructure, including flyovers, bridges and underpasses, but it would be extended to police and other agencies. The system would help curb traffic congestion and ascertain its causes, identify criminals and prevent crimes, besides effective surveillance of processions, he added.
“Although we have not designed this system for security-related issues, but the law-enforcement and intelligence agencies can use this centre for this purpose as well,” he added.
He said the idea to establish the centre was conceived and implemented by the city government, though he later informed the newsmen that the city’s surveillance was part of the Sindh information technology department’s e-policing initiative.
It is pertinent to mention here that Mr Kamal had served as minister for information technology before being elected as city nazim.
He said that monitoring of signal-free corridor-I and -II was being conducted through a wireless video surveillance system at present.
“We have selected two signal-free corridors – from Sharea Faisal to Site, and Surjani Town – and installed 54 surveillance cameras at different locations in the first phase to keep an eye on the happenings on both the corridors,” he said, adding that it covers a 36-km stretch at present.
In the next phase, he said, the system would be extended from Sharea Faisal to the Karachi Stock Exchange, Safoora Goth to Guru Mandir, and Surjani Town to M.A. Jinnah Road.
The nazim said that he had already informed Sindh police chief Dr Shoaib Suddle about the command and control centre where the watch and ward as well as traffic police personnel would also be posted for effective policing. The project, which was first of its kind in the country, would be officially inaugurated on Sunday.
The nazim said that the command and control centre would be linked with an ambulance network, ‘1122,’ within the next two weeks to provide emergency assistance in case of any accident on the two corridors. He said that the city government would also install the Licence Plate Recognition (LPR) and Biometric Face Recognition systems with help of the National Database Registration Authority.
With the help of those installations, he said, the command and control system would easily identify any vehicle and person moving on the two corridors.
He said that the first phase of the project, launched in January, had been completed at a cost of Rs110 million. He said the city government acquired a frequency through Wimax technology.
