For a safe and secure Karachi

The Sindh chief minister's recent announcement that the first phase of work on Karachi's Safe City Project will be launched within two months, making it the last provincial capital to get such a project, and several years after many smaller cities in Punjab successfully started their own projects.

While announcing the first phase, which will include installing 1,300 cameras, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah rightly called the safety of Karachi "non-negotiable", but the reality is that residents of Karachi have been forced to negotiate years of insecurity as bureaucratic and political delays stalled this critical project. Approved in 2011, the project is already a staggering seven years behind its original schedule, with costs having quadrupled from an initial Rs10 billion to an estimated Rs40 billion.

This delay is inexcusable when viewed against the national backdrop. Lahore's Safe City Project, with its 8,000 cameras and integrated command centre, has been operational for almost a decade. Islamabad boasts comprehensive coverage, and Punjab is actively expanding its network — 10 cities are already covered, and the number should rise to 18 by the end of the year. Quetta's Safe City project began a few years ago, and Peshawar's will be operational in a few days.

Meanwhile, Karachi, the nation's economic heartbeat, contributing over 20% of Pakistan's GDP, has languished without this basic technological shield. An example of the scale of ineptitude is that Rahim Yar Khan, a city with a population under 500,000, spread over 200-plus sq-km, has an operational Safe City project. Lyari, the smallest of Karachi's towns, is just 6 sq-km, but has a population twice that of Rahim Yar Khan, and no safe city cameras.

There is no way to make up for past delays, but the government can at least ensure the project stays on schedule. The people of Karachi have waited long enough. If the government wants them to feel that their safety is truly non-negotiable, the time for excuses is over.