Around 60 hi-tech closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras of the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) installed at the major thoroughfares of the city to monitor vehicular traffic and the law and order situation have malfunctioned due to the apathy of authorities concerned.
Besides, many CCTV cameras on major arteries including Shahrah-e-Faisal, MA Jinnah Road and Abdullah Haroon Road and around the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam – that are still in working condition – have been rendered useless due to the presence of large billboards set up in front of them, well-placed sources in the city administration told Pakistan Today.
In many cases, law enforcement agencies have been unable to acquire the footage of an incident as the cameras have been out of order.
In 2008, the city government had installed a digital surveillance and monitoring system at Civic Centre, monitored by the officials of the law enforcement authorities. In the first phase, 148 cameras were installed at a cost of Rs 130 million with the required technical support including monitoring screens and navigating and recording equipment.
However, the lack of smooth electricity supply to these cameras, setting up of large billboards along the roads and poor maintenance of the surveillance system has caused many of these cameras to malfunction.
In the recent attack on navy buses, the setback for investigators was that the camera installed near Karsaz was not working at the time as its power supply was disconnected.
The CCTV cameras have also been unable to be of any assistance in other attacks in the city including the Ashura and Chehlum blasts last year.
Nine out of ten CCTV cameras must be dummy the actual cameras pawned off by very
''Honest'' employees of the concerned department.The administration cannot afford to
get on the wrong side of the people in power less one of them is caught on the camera.
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