ISLAMABAD: The $125 million Safe City Project launched for the security and safety of the city and its residents in 2016 now itself is in the dire need of security as its equipment, including cameras, were found stolen for the second time in six months.

A police officer confirmed to Dawn that two cameras and as many cabinets installed a kilometre from the Koral police station on Islamabad Expressway have been stolen. The cameras and cabinets worth Rs1.1million were the property of the Safe City Authority, he added.

The officer said the monitoring room stopped receiving footage/view from the two cameras in the early hours of Thursday. A technical team from the Safe City Authority was sent to the spot at noon which found the cameras and its cabinets stolen.

The issue was brought in the knowledge of concerned officers and a case was registered at the Koral police station in response to a complaint lodged by in-charge field coordinator Abdul Kabir.

Talking to Dawn, another officer said the cameras were installed on a pole while the cabinets were placed inside the pylon. Each cabinet has a battery to supply power to the cameras when required, he added.

When asked how Safe City’s cameras and other equipment were stolen without being noticed by those responsible for surveillance and how thieves could steal public and private property right in front of a camera, the officer said there were over 2,500 cameras installed across the city, but the number of screens at the Safe City Authority building was only 125. So it is not possible to keep monitoring from every camera at a time.

Whenever the project’s camera or optical fibre develops any fault or rendered inoperative, one of the software of the project generates an alert, the officer said. As a result, when a camera or equipment attached with it is stolen, an alert is also generated.

However, the theft incidents came under the knowledge of concerned staff after the monitoring room stopped receiving footage/view from the cameras, he added.

On September 2, 2023, thieves stole a camera of the Safe City Project installed just a furlong from the Margalla police station. However, the authority came to know about the theft after two weeks.

The camera was found inoperative on the night of September 2 as no footage/view was received from it. However, even then, no efforts were made by the police to check the camera except writing a report and verbally communicating the matter to a senior officer concerned.

After two weeks, a team from the Safe City Authority visited the spot and found the camera missing/stolen. The camera cost Rs120,000 when it was installed.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2024