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Power of surveillance disappears

* Most of the 2,500 CCTV cameras in city markets not working
* Traders not paying money for maintenance, repair of system

By Shafiq Sharif

LAHORE: Most of the 2,500 close circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed at various sensitive markets and places of the city have been found to be out of order, said businessmen at various markets.

The city police, in cooperation with businessmen and other influential people, had the CCTV cameras installed at various sensitive places and markets including those situated on The Mall, Hall Road, Liberty, Ichhra, Urdu Bazaar, Anarkali, Suvva Bazaar, Shah Alam, Rang Mahal, Barkat Market, Nicholson Road, Railway Station, Lorry Adda and markets in the Defence Housing Authority. The police took the step almost two years ago after the February 14 riots in order to avoid any untoward incident in business markets of the city.

Millions of rupees were needed to keep the project going: for the repair and maintenance of cameras and expenses of the control room setup. Although the businessmen had invested money two years ago, some believe they got tired of supporting the project. Liberty Market Traders Association president Amjad Waheed Butt told Daily Times that the surveillance system was not working owing to the development work being carried out in the market. He said in past, about 20 CCTV cameras had been installed and a control room set up, but the entire surveillance system had been eliminated.

He said the association had estimated that about a million rupees would be needed for the installation of a new surveillance system in the market, but the businessmen were not giving money for it. “It is possible that the new system will be installed after the general elections,” he said.

Qaumi Traders Association (QTI) vice president and Mall Road Traders Association president Hamid Riaz said only 10 to 12 security cameras had been installed on The Mall-1, out of which two were not functioning.

He said some jewellers and money exchangers had installed security cameras at their business places and were taking care of the cameras on their own. He said the cameras installed only in front of influential businessmen’s shops on Hall Road were functioning.

He said the police and the city government never helped them in maintaining the surveillance system. He said security measures provided by the police were not enough and the businessmen were not satisfied with them. He said he wrote several letters to the police inspector general, capital city police officer, senior superintendent of police (operations), district nazim and the district coordination officer for the removal of encroachments from The Mall, as any terrorist could set explosive material there in the guise of a cart vendor.

Sheikh Ahmed, a trader at Urdu Bazaar, said the security measures adopted by the city police were not satisfactory. He said the business community of the bazaar had installed several security cameras about 18 months ago, but not even a single camera was functioning right now. He said the traders had contacted the police, but they did not take any action.

Capital city police officer, Additional Inspector General Malik Muhammad Iqbal told Daily Times that the police were trying their level best to make sure that the installed cameras were functioning properly. He said they had also decided to install the CCTV cameras on the routes of the processions. He said the city police would take every possible step to avoid any untoward incident in the city. He urged people to help the police in maintaining law and order in the city.

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