Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah addresses a press conference on Wednesday. Photo: NNI
KARACHI:
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Thursday directed the Sindh Safe Cities Authority (SSCA) to launch phase I of the “non-negotiable” Karachi Safe City (KSC) project within the next two months.
Chairing a meeting of the SSCA at CM House, the chief minister said, “Karachi’s security is non-negotiable. We are moving from the project stage to a fully functional authority.”
The Chief Minister further said that the surveys for Safe City projects in Hyderabad and Sukkur, as well as installations of smart cameras at entry and exit points of the province, were carried out by the National Radio & Telecommunication Corporation.
He ordered the preparation of Safe City projects in the two cities. “I want a comprehensive plan with a clear timetable to be submitted for approval,” he added.
Sindh CM@MuradAliShahPPPchaired a meeting of the Safe Cities Authority.
Phase I of the Karachi Safe City project will be operational within two months. The project includes 1,300 cameras, fully functional facial recognition and number plate systems and a revised budget of Rs 200 million. pic.twitter.com/WwxzIRWmcR– Sindh Chief Minister’s House (@SindhCMHouse) January 22, 2026
The chief minister directed the SSCA to hire technical experts strictly on the basis of merit and necessity, forming a dedicated committee to oversee the recruitment.
CM Shah also approved the immediate hiring of 34 specialized technical and administrative staff, including senior systems architects, back-end developers and monitoring officers, to ensure that the multi-billion rupee project becomes operational within the stipulated time frame.
Phase I of the project includes the installation of 1,300 cameras at 300 pole sites, 18 point-of-presence sites and 23 emergency response vehicles. The chief minister was informed that the system was currently in the “acceptance testing phase” while the technological installations were completed.
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To avoid delays, the chief minister reallocated Rs 200 million under the existing budget, prioritizing human resources and patrolling logistics.
The SSCA will operate temporarily from the Central Police Office, with Sindh Inspector General of Police Javed Akhtar Odho providing a dedicated floor for coordination with existing command and control functions.
SSCA Director General Sarfraz Nawaz informed the Chief Minister that the technical infrastructure, including servers, video walls and optical fiber networks, was completed on schedule on December 17. He added that the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system was being developed and would feature live facial recognition and automatic number plate recognition within two weeks.
The meeting was attended by Interior Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar, Special Assistant to CM Ali Rashid, MPs Sumeta Afzal and Syed Sarfraz Shah, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, Interior Minister Iqbal Memon, IG Police Javed Alam Odho, PSCM Agha Wasif and other senior officials.
