Karachi: Karachi, the commercial capital of Pakistan, has lately witnessed a marked improvement in law and order as its ranking on the World Crime Index was 6th in 2014 - the provincial capital now stands at 103.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah stated this while chairing a top-level meeting at the CM House to review law and order of the entire province.
Among other officials, Karachi’s Corps Commander Lt General Humayun Aziz and Director-General of Sindh Rangers Major General Omer Ahmed Bukhari attended the meeting.
The World Crime Index surveys the rate of criminal activities in 396 cities around the world. In 2015, the Karachi’s position on the index was 10th, in 2016 on 26th, in 2017 on 47th, 2018 50th, 2019 71st, while now in October, 2020 Karachi stands at 103.
Inspector General of Sindh Police Mushtaq Ahmed Mehar informed the meeting that now Cape Town was at 19th place, Mexico City on 29th, Kuala Lumpur on 38th, Houston on 50th, while ranking of Delhi is 71st. First is Caracas, while Qatar is in the last position.
The CM said that Karachi could be made a safer place by implementing the “Safe City project” envisaging comprehensive real-time electronic surveillance of the city through a network of 10,000 high-powered cameras.
He said that initially an amount of Rs 10 billion had been earmarked for the project as later on its cost escalated to Rs 20 billion.
Law and order
These cameras would mostly be installed in the “Red Zone” of the city (having important government buildings) and other troubled spots of the city from the law and order perspective.
The CM decided to convene a meeting next week to finalize the implementation of the Safe City project. The project has been pending since 2011.
He said the use of modern technology would ensure protection of the city and improving the living standards of its residents.
He also directed the Sindh Police chief to design a smart phone application for the residents of Karachi to enable them to promptly report without any hassle the crime incidents of robberies and snatching of cellular phones, motorcycles, cars, and other acts of street crimes.
He said the cellular phone application would enable the concerned citizens to lodge their complaints of such incidents without visiting the police stations. The system will also enable the police force to become active against criminals in the city.
