The Punjab government has approved a plan by the Safe Cities Authority to expand the network of surveillance cameras to 19 cities across the province.
Cities including Lodhran, Bahawalnagar, Jhelum, Vehari, Layyah, Taunsa, Chiniot, and Toba Tek Singh will be equipped with approximately 5,000 cameras as part of the expansion.
The project is estimated to cost Rs 5.25 billion, with a completion deadline set for June 2025. Officials have confirmed that the first phase of the project is already underway in cities such as Sheikhupura, Rawalpindi, Sialkot, Gujrat, and Gujranwala.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif recently inaugurated safe city project in Sheikhupura and during the inauguration of Safe City Project in Sheikhupura, Maryam Nawaz also observed the video wall of Safe City and inspected the modern communication equipment being used in the project in Sheikhupura. Maryam Nawaz was told about the advanced body cam, rugged smart phone and other devices. Chief Minister also observed the monitoring process at Safe City Sheikhupura’s control room.
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The Chief Minister had been briefed by the Managing Director of Safe Cities regarding some of the features of the project ranging up to the state-of-the-art body cameras, rugged smartphones included amongst other devices, which were solely intended for this purpose. She had a chance to be present in the control room during live monitoring and gained insight into how the system generates more safety in public space and on the roads within the city.
Under this project, 273 cameras have been installed at 52 key locations in Sheikhupura. More than this, these hi-tech cameras are equipped with the facility of the e-challan system on major locations of the national highway, which issues challans automatically due to any traffic rule violation. Thus, increasing compliance and enhancing traffic management in the city.
It also involves the monitoring of Air Quality Index systems and detecting criminals via Facial Recognition Systems. It also includes the installation of 10 “pink buttons” installed at different junctures in the city that will trigger immediate assistance in an emergency situation.
The Chief Minister gave a go-ahead for the launch of free Wi-Fi service at 15 places in Sheikhupura. Digital accessibility and facilities should be further extended to its residents so that access to easy digital services and information-especially access to public places and community areas-would become certain.
Following the inauguration of the Safe City project, Maryam Nawaz started meetings with the members of the provincial assembly from the Sheikhupura district. During this time, she received a briefing by the DPO pertaining to the city’s law and order situation. The DC informed her on the progress made under the Chief Minister’s Initiative. The infrastructure development issue was raised by the members of the assembly during the discussions.
Therefore, it was decided that construction and expansion of the Sheikhupura-Sargodha Road would be carried out along with an overhead in order to increase transport and connectivity.
The Chief Minister, Maryam Nawaz, emphasized the need to start effective measures to eradicate wall-chalking from the city. She directed the Deputy Commissioner and police officials to keep their doors open for the public; at the same time, she asked the assembly members to pay on-ground visits to the ongoing development projects for their timely completion and according to quality standards.
The Sheikhupura Safe City Project is a mega leap in attaining digital inclusion, infrastructure, and ensuring public safety. This is a multidimensional approach by the Punjab government under the leadership of Maryam Nawaz to reshape urban security and bring about a change in the public services delivery mechanism with the help of modern technology, coupled with participation from the citizens. Its replication in other cities in the coming weeks underlines this government’s commitment towards a safe and digitally connected Punjab.