Karachi : Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah directed police to install 10,000 cameras at different spots across Karachi, including its red zones areas where criminal activities take place frequently.

Addressing a meeting on law and order at the CM House, Shah said that the city’s overall situation has considerably improved, which can be gauged from the fact that Karachi’s ranking in the World Crime Index has gone from sixth in 2014 to 103rd in 2020.

The World Crime Index surveys crime levels of 396 international cities. It had ranked Karachi sixth in 2014, 10th in 2015, 26th in 2016, 47th in 2017, 50th in 2018, 61st and then 71st in 2019, 88th earlier this year and 103rd by mid-October.

Sindh police chief IGP Mushtaq Mahar told the meeting that Cape Town has been ranked 19th, Mexico 29th, Kuala Lumpur 38th, Houston 50th, Washington 52nd,and Delhi 71st.

In order to further ameliorate the security and safety situation as well as the quality of life in the port city, the chief minister decided to start the implementation of the Safe City Project in Karachi.

CM Murad said the city can be made safer and more secure if the Safe City Project is implemented at the earliest. He told Mahar to convene a meeting with the National Radio & Telecom Corporation next week for a detailed discussion on the project’s technical and financial proposals.

The Safe City Project was conceived in 2011, aiming at installing 10,000 high-powered CCTV cameras across the city in the first phase. The CM had approved Rs10 billion for the purpose but the project cost escalated to around Rs20 billion later.