LAHORE: Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Tuesday said the Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA) was a project of vital importance to continuously protect the lives and properties of the people.

She expressed these views during her visit to the Head Office of Punjab Safe Cities Authority, established at Qurban Lines here.

Talking to the media, Dr Firdous said the PSCA by incorporating modern technology and methods aimed to redefine the capabilities of law enforcement agencies and help ensure public safety.

She said the Punjab Police Integrated Command, Control and Communication (PPIC3) Center had the support of law enforcement agencies to respond to any emergency.

She said the project was launched with the installation of 8,000 cameras in Lahore which was being gradually extended to other divisional headquarters, adding that work was underway on the Rawalpindi and Nankana Sahib City projects as well.

In line with the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the government was setting up Safe City Center in Nankana Sahib to provide security to the locals and the visitors, she said.

The Special Assistant said that 60,000 phone calls were being received on ‘Pucar 15’ on the daily basis from across the province and police help was being provided to the citizens timely.

The PSCA received more than 15 million emergency calls in the year 2020 alone, she added.

Dr Firdous said the use of modern technology by the PSCA had improved the police response time and police were providing assistance to citizens in 10 to 15 minutes across the province.

"With the help of the Safe City project, we have brought international cricket back to our country and this most advanced and improved security system is being acknowledged by the security experts," she said.

The SACM said the CCTV cameras installed on city streets provided footage of dozens of incidents every day to assist the police in the investigation, adding that so far more than 7,000 audio and video recordings had been provided to police for help in the investigation process.

Dr Firdous said the PSCA had introduced an Electronic Challan System to regulate traffic in the city which resulted in a 45 percent reduction in fatal traffic accidents, adding that a system of online payment of e-challan had also been introduced for the convenience of citizens through which they could pay their challans from the comfort of their home.

The SACM said the lost and found center under the PSCA had reunited more than 3,000 lost children and others with their families.

Moreover, it was satisfying that PSCA had also introduced the ‘Pehchaan App’ to check criminal records of accused and the ‘Women Safety App’ for the safety of women.