To make Islamabad “one of the safest cities” in Pakistan, the federal government is looking forward to installing additional cameras in the city to expand coverage of the Safe City Project from 30 percent to 100 percent during the current financial year.
Addressing a press conference, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah stated currently, the safe city project covered at least 30 percent area of Islamabad but soon after the installation of additional cameras the coverage would be extended to the whole capital.
The minister said additional cameras would be installed at “all-important places”, adding that immediate funds of Rs40 million had been released for the Safe City Authority to fulfill its urgent needs.
As per the PML-N leader, the Islamabad police chief and the director-general of the Safe City Authority have been ordered to formulate a feasibility report for the expansion of the project.
Read more: Islamabad ranked second safest city in Southern Asia
Once the feasibility report would be completed, funds would be issued for the project within a week, the minister added, without explaining the amount required to expand the project.
The sources said that the city police had been looking for an increase in the number of CCTV cameras and manpower for the Safe City Project for quite some time. They stated officials of the Islamabad Safe City Project had proposed the installation of 4,000 more cameras in the city.
“Since the launch of the Safe City Project years ago, Islamabad has undergone rapid expansion in terms of area and population,” the project officials said, adding that 1,905 cameras were already installed in different parts of the capital.
Moreover, the project had been initially providing assistance to the police in tracking and identifying the criminals at the request of the operation division and investigation wing.
However, its role has now been enhanced when its officials were briefed to assist the Islamabad police to curb the crime rate.
The interior minister further said the government would take all possible steps to end “police culture” in Islamabad and install cameras at police stations, assuring accountability in the police department, “No one would be allowed to resort to torture in the police stations nor would it be tolerated.”
