CM House to keep an eye over the city

The new facility will be linked to all the CCTV cameras in the city

KARACHI: All surveillance cameras installed across the city will now be monitored from a central facility established at CM House.

The Rs120 million facility was inaugurated by CM Qaim Ali Shah during a ceremony at CM House on Monday. Currently, the 200 cameras of the police department have been linked to the command and control centre, while 1,800 cameras of the KMC will also be linked to the centre by the end of next week.

Speaking at the occasion, Shah said that the command and control centre is an essential tool that helps detect criminal activities, improve traffic management and witness action by rescue and police personnel. The CM believes it must be run professionally to avail the most out of the technology.

The secretary said that VVIP programmes or movements will also be monitored by making special arrangements. "This centre has an unlimited capacity to cover or view surveillance cameras," he said.



Sindh Police IG Ghulam Hyder Jamali told the CM that the surveillance cameras installed by the police are of two megapixels. "We are working with a foreign agency and will upgrade the cameras to eight megapixels. This will improve the footage quality manifold," he said.

The CM visited the server room and recording system where he was briefed about the mechanism of relaying information to the relevant authorities for necessary action. Shah directed his principal secretary Alamuddin Bullo to run the facility efficiently.

This system was introduced by the City District Government, Karachi, during the tenure of the then city nazim, Mustafa Kamal.  In 2012, former president Asif Ali Zardari inaugurated a Rs690 million project to increase the number of CCTV cameras.

The funds were released and nearly 164 spots in the city were identified where poles were also erected with five cameras installed on each pole. The project was being managed at Civic Centre, mostly by Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) officials, until the provincial government transferred its control to the police in September 2013.

The reason provided for shifting the facility's control was that certain elements in the KMC were supporting the criminals.

An official of the Sindh government said that the system will be run by the police at CM House and all CCTV cameras currently being managed by the KMC will be connected to it. "Within a few days, the officials managing this system will monitor almost all the city's areas," said the CM House spokesperson.

The official added that despite the government's earlier orders to transfer the management of KMC's command and control system to the police, KMC officials had not obeyed the directive and had retained the authority. Now, however, the system will be jointly managed at CM House by the provincial and local government department.

The system has been a huge help to law enforcers, especially during the processions and gatherings for Eid Miladun Nabi and Muharram. "Now it has been decided that the police and Rangers will monitor the gatherings and procession from CM House," said a sources.

Sources privy to the development told The Express Tribune that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, while talking notice of the sub-standard CCTV cameras installed in areas where Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Rashid Godil came under attack, ordered to take action against the companies that had installed the cameras.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25^th, 2015.