Project completed at Rs2.23b, ceremony held at Malik Saad Shaheed Police Lines
Times Report
PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Muhammad Sohail Afridi, formally inaugurated the Peshawar Safe Cities Project at a ceremony held at Malik Saad Shaheed Police Lines in Peshawar. Addressing the event, the Chief Minister stated that the Peshawar Safe City initiative, completed at a total cost of PKR 2.23 billion, represents a modern, comprehensive and integrated urban security framework that will play a pivotal role in strengthening the law and order environment in the provincial capital. He noted that under the project, a total of 711 state of the art surveillance cameras have been installed across 133 key and sensitive locations in Peshawar to ensure effective monitoring and enhanced situational awareness across the city. The Chief Minister further informed that Safe City projects in Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu and Lakki Marwat are also nearing completion and will become operational shortly. He added that similar Safe City initiatives will be launched in all divisional headquarters and the merged districts after June as part of the provincial government’s broader strategy to strengthen urban security infrastructure across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Expressing concern over the prevailing security situation, the Chief Minister observed that the law and order environment has shown signs of deterioration. He highlighted that following recent developments in Balochistan, similar terrorist attempts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were thwarted due to the timely and effective response of the provincial police. The Chief Minister stated that during recent interactions with federal representatives, he had conveyed a clear and consistent position that unless national priorities are recalibrated, the situation could further deteriorate. He emphasized the need for greater transparency and inclusivity in decision making on critical national matters, particularly those relating to regional developments involving Iran, Israel and the United States, stressing that Parliament and the broader public must be taken into confidence on such issues. He regretted that important national decisions are often taken behind closed doors without adequately informing the public.
The Chief Minister stated that the Holy Qur’an contains clear injunctions that Jews and Christians cannot be your friends. The Chief Minister further reiterated that the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has consistently advocated for the formation of a grand jirga comprising tribal elders, representatives of the provincial government, political parties and federal authorities, to be dispatched to Afghanistan with the objective of pursuing a durable and peaceful resolution to prevailing challenges. He expressed regret that despite repeated proposals, the jirga and dialogue based approach has not been implemented, and the situation worsened. He affirmed that the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have always stood with Pakistan and will continue to do so. Protecting every inch of the country, he said, remains a collective national responsibility. The Chief Minister also remarked that the country’s most popular political leader and a prominent figure in the Muslim world remains unjustly imprisoned, which he described as deeply unfortunate. During the briefing provided at the ceremony, participants were informed that the Command and Control Center established under the Safe City Project will integrate urban surveillance, emergency response and traffic management under a unified and coordinated operational platform. The system will also be integrated with existing camera networks installed along Bus Rapid Transit corridors, the Red Zone and other sensitive locations. The briefing further highlighted that the deployment of smart surveillance vehicles, drones, anti drone systems and the installation of 68 panic buttons across the city will significantly enhance citizen safety and enable more effective crime prevention and rapid response mechanisms. Speaker of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Babar Saleem Swati, provincial cabinet members Meena Khan Afridi, Shafi Jan and Muzammil Aslam, Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah, Inspector General of Police Zulfiqar Hameed and other senior police officials were also present on the occasion. Earlier, the Chief Minister laid floral wreaths at the Police Martyrs Memorial upon his arrival at Police Lines and offered prayers in tribute to the sacrifices of the martyrs.
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