CM reviews K-P safe cities progress

Under the chairmanship of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi, a high-level meeting was held at the Chief Minister's Secretariat to review progress on the province's "Safe Cities" initiative.

The session focused on ongoing projects, expansion strategies, and the legal and institutional frameworks guiding the program.

Officials provided a comprehensive briefing on the Safe Cities projects currently underway in Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan (DI Khan), Bannu, and Lakki Marwat. Progress reports covered the installation of field infrastructure, phased deployment of surveillance systems, and the construction and preparation of Integrated Command, Control, and Communication (C4) Centers.

In Peshawar, authorities are installing cameras and poles along key city roads, intersections, and entry and exit points. The Chief Minister was informed that the Peshawar Safe City project is expected to be completed by January 31. Similarly, priority locations in DI Khan, Bannu, and Lakki Marwat are being equipped with camera networks and command-and-control systems on a phased basis. Specifically, 88 cameras are being installed in DI Khan, 76 in Bannu, and 47 in Lakki Marwat, with completion slated for the same date to enable operational surveillance at the earliest.

The meeting also addressed the Safe Cities plan for Karak, Tank, and North Waziristan, with project proposals (PC-1s) finalized and initial preparations, including site identification and security assessment, completed.

A separate strategy for the newly merged districts was also discussed, considering geographic conditions, security sensitivity, infrastructure availability, and operational requirements, with a phased implementation approach agreed upon.

Chief Minister Afridi instructed that the Safe Cities project be expanded to remaining divisional headquarters in a stepwise manner, prioritizing security needs, population density, and operational feasibility. He emphasized leveraging existing surveillance resources by mapping and integrating CCTV cameras from hotels, plazas, commercial buildings, residential areas, housing societies, and other private locations into the Safe Cities network while ensuring technical compatibility, legal compliance, and citizen privacy. Where feasible, cameras installed in educational institutions, especially schools, will also be integrated.

Highlighting the growing scope of the initiative, Afridi stressed the need for a clear legal and institutional framework. Comprehensive proposals are to be submitted for establishing the Safe Cities Authority, covering governance, lawful use of surveillance data, its role in investigations and court proceedings, data protection, citizen privacy, inter-agency access, and recruitment and training of technical personnel. For the merged districts, he instructed the provision of 24-hour solar-powered energy to ensure uninterrupted operation of surveillance systems, noting that access to modern technology in remote areas remains a government priority.

Addressing the meeting, CM Sohail Afridi said the province would gradually be transformed into a network of Safe Cities.