The Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA) will link over 100,000 CCTVs installed by the Mass Transit Authority, DHA, Ring Road, Smart City, and private societies in Lahore with its control center.
The Safe Cities Management Committee convened its tenth meeting at the Qurban Police Lines, presided over by the Punjab Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Rao Sardar Ali Khan, who approved the initiative. Also in attendance were CCPO Lahore, Fayyaz Ahmed Dev, officials from of Finance, Planning and Development, Communication and Works, and the Information Technology Board.
The PSCA currently has linked around 2,500 CCTV cameras of private housing schemes, which was revealed by the PSCA’s Chief Operation Officer (COO), Kamran Khan, in a briefing to the Lahore CCPO on 7 March. The installation procedure had begun in February when the COO had met with representatives of the private housing societies at the PSCA headquarters after the Punjab government granted approval for the same.
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Traffic Management and Crime Prevention
IGP Rao Sardar informed the attendees of the aforementioned tenth meeting that the integration of the Safe Cities cameras with public and private organizations and housing societies will improve the surveillance of roads and sensitive areas in addition to aiding in crime prevention and traffic management.
He also directed the Lahore Police Department to expedite the fieldwork for the interconnection of private cameras and said, “[The] provision of modern technology and technical resources required for the integration should be ensured on priority basis”.
PSCA COO Khan apprised the attendees about the project’s progress and future plans.
The immediate transfer of all Punjab Police’s records from the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) to the Safe Cities Data Centre was also discussed during the meeting.
PSCA Expansion to Other Cities
The attendees discussed expanding the purview of the PSCA to other cities, and the IGP urged for the timely completion of the work.
The group also considered the implementation of the Nankana Sahib Project in addition to the installation of cameras at Lahore’s entry and exit points.
