Sindh govt has started safe city project in Karachi: CM Murad

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Tuesday said that after restoration of law and order in the city, the government has embarked upon a safe city project in Karachi to keep an eye on the mobility of citizens and vehicular traffic.

This chief minister while talking to Ambassador of Norway Mr. Tore Nedrebo, said that under the safe city project more than 10,000 high-quality CCTV cameras are being installed at 3000 different strategically selected locations, including entry and exit points.

“The cameras would be connected with a quick responsive command and control centre established at IG office from where instructions would be passed in the light of public movement and road accidents to the concerned authorities then and there,” he said.

He said that the command and control centre installed at the IG Office would also be upgraded with latest high-power servers with the ability of recording and storage.

“The operators on duty at the command and control centre would have no facility to delete footage at any stage and if any attempt is made the system would have the ability to identify the name/ ID of the operator/duty officer,” he said.

Norway to launch technical, vocational programmes

The Norwegian Ambassador lauded the efforts of the provincial government for restoration of peace and winning the mind of investors who are keen to invest in the port city of Karachi. He said the investors from his country were already working on two different renewable energy power plants, including wind and solar.

The chief minister said that the province of Sindh is naturally blessed with a wind corridor which has the capacity to produce 50,000 MW wind energy. “A similar capacity has been identified for solar energy in Thatta, Jamshoro, Jhimpir, Sukkur, Jacobabad and other areas of the province,” he said.

The visiting ambassador said that Norway is going to launch technical and vocational training programme in Pakistan.  The chief minister assured his government would provide special support if Norway starts the programme in Sindh. The ambassador accepted the offer and agreed to work together.

CM Sindh express interest in Norwegian electric buses

CM Sindh also said that Norway has expertise in making electric buses and vehicles.  He said he wants to launch electric bus service in the first phase for universities and colleges, and then for intra-city service, which would help reduce air and noise pollution.

He said that the provincial government is working on different BRT bus projects, and work out to launch one of them on solar-energy electric buses.

Both agreed to engage their respective teams and experts to work together to install such projects and facilities. They also agreed to work on cultural and social exchange between the two countries.