KARACHI, Sept 23: A network of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras will be installed in Karachi on the pattern of other metropolitan cities of the world for security purposes. Funding for the project has already been provided to the Sindh police.

The proposal for the installation of the cameras was given to the Sindh government in the first half of this year by the former provincial police officer Sindh. Subsequently, the Sindh government sanctioned funding worth Rs1 billion in the present financial year to the Sindh police.

A senior officer of the Sindh police told Dawn that tenders for the installation of the CCTV cameras would soon be published in newspapers. He added that some international companies have also shown interest in the project and have already given their presentations in this regard.

“Some other companies interested in the project are likely to give their presentations after Eid,” the officer said.

PPO Sindh Sultan Salahuddin Babar Khattak has constituted a committee which will determine the specifications of the cameras.

Experts say that if the quality of the cameras is on the higher end, a lesser number would be purchased while if the cameras are of a lower specification, they could be purchased in a larger quantity.

Citing some of the vantage points where the cameras could be installed, the official said that most likely all the city’s entry points such as Shohrab Goth, Hub River Road and Ghagghar Phatak may be equipped with the cameras in order to keep an eye on incoming and outgoing movement.

Understandably, the cameras would also be installed at various sensitive locations within the parameters of the city. However, the police hierarchy has yet to identify the exact places where the CCTV cameras would be installed.

At present, cameras have been installed at Bilawal House, the Sindh Assembly building and Sindh Secretariat, while most recently, cameras were installed at the shopping hub of Tariq Road.

Similarly, cameras have also been installed at the Metropole traffic intersection at Abdullah Haroon Road focusing on the US consulate and the approach roads.

Citing the importance of CCTV cameras in policing these days, Capital City Police Officer Wasim Ahmed said that the very day the cameras started functioning at the Liberty signal (at Tariq Road), a street crime suspect was caught on tape.

“CCTV is the need of modern-day policing. For instance in London, almost every street has been covered by CCTV. Similarly in Istanbul, recently 3,000 cameras have been installed, following which there has been a marked decreased in crime,” the CCPO said.

Powerless cameras

However, considering the erratic power supply situation in the city where there is no dependable power supply mechanism and outages are a routine affair, the cameras, once installed, would be at the mercy of the power supply of the Karachi Electric Supply Company, unless some back-up system dedicated to the cameras is developed.

It has been learnt that the presently-installed cameras don’t have a power back-up system and rely on the KESC for their functioning. Observers noted that even if a generator is used as a back-up for the camera, the time required for the camera to switch to the generator could mean the loss of precious footage.

Critics said that installing the cameras without a proper power back-up system would be an exercise in futility. Even Islamabad does not have CCTV coverage. However, following the Marriott blast, the city administration has decided to install cameras at the entry points as well as at other important points of the capital.

In the past the Karachi police managed mega-events such as big public gatherings at Nishtar Park by utilizing rented cameras for surveillance. But the apparent flaws of this practice were exposed in the tribunal held in the aftermath of the Eid Milad Nishtar Park carnage, in which the entire Sunni Tehreek leadership was wiped out.