Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Friday approved the Phase-II of the Karachi Safe City Project to strengthen urban security, surveillance and law enforcement capacity in the metropolis with the installation of over 2,300 smart cameras and advanced monitoring infrastructure.
Presiding over a meeting of the Sindh Safe Cities Authority (SSCA) at the CM House, the CM underscored that ensuring public safety through modern technology remained a top priority of his government.
The meeting was attended by Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Javed Odho, Principal Secretary to CM Agha Wasif, Home Secretary Iqbal Memon, Planning & Development Board Chairman Najam Shah, Finance Secretary Fayyaz Jatoi, Excise Secretary Saleem Rajput, SSCA DG Sarfraz Nawaz, Agha Fakhar and Provincial Disaster Management Authority Director General Salman Shah.
The meeting was informed that the Phase-II of the project envisaged the installation of 2,314 smart surveillance cameras, including 870 for general surveillance, 1,300 equipped with automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) and facial recognition, 80 for traffic enforcement, 56 mobile surveillance units, and eight dedicated to traffic signal monitoring.
These cameras will be deployed across Karachi’s districts, with the highest coverage in District South (322 cameras), followed by East (220), Korangi (27), Keamari (17), Malir (16) and West (1), significantly expanding the city’s monitoring network.
The project, estimated at approximately Rs 9.98 billion, is scheduled for completion within 12 months with work expected to commence in May 2026. The infrastructure components include nine points of presence (PoP) sites equipped with solar and generator backup, a smart surveillance tower, 50 public panic buttons linked to a central command system, eight response vehicles with onboard cameras and 10 surveillance drones.
Shah highlighted that the government had achieved cost savings of over Rs1 billion through negotiations on procurement demonstrating financial prudence while maintaining quality standards. “This is not just a development project - it is a critical investment in public safety and national security,” he remarked. The CM directed the authorities to expedite approvals and ensure timely execution warning that delays could lead to cost escalations, particularly given the rising global prices of surveillance equipment.
To strengthen operational readiness, the SSCA completed a recruitment process for technical staff through a multi-stage merit-based evaluation system involving expert panels and oversight committees.
The CM approved moving forward with the appointments under the relevant provisions of the SSCA Act. In addition to Karachi, the meeting reviewed proposals to establish Safe City projects in divisional headquarters, including Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Mirpurkhas, and Shaheed Benazirabad with an estimated total cost of Rs3.15 billion and installation of 780 cameras. It was decided to that the proposals may be submitted to the planning & development department for further review.
Murad emphasised the importance of integrating all safe city initiatives under a unified SSCA framework to ensure standardisation, avoid duplication and enhance coordination. “Fragmented systems compromise effectiveness. Our goal is a fully integrated command and control network across Sindh,” he said, adding that the Safe City initiative would not only improve crime prevention and response but also enhance traffic management and emergency services, ultimately making Karachi a safer and more resilient city.
