CHENNAI: Those breaching traffic rules in Anna Nagar will now get an e-challan sent to their mobile number. The new facility is the result of the integration of Traffic Regulation Observed Zone (TROZ) with National Informatics Centre (NIC). Traffic-rule violators are identified with the help of advanced-surveillance cameras that capture number plates of their motor vehicles, sources said.
Since the e-challan is uploaded to the government database, the traffic-rule violators will have to pay it if caught by police anywhere or during any transaction with government transport department.
Police Commissioner Shankar Jiwal introduced the system on a trial basis in Anna Nagar and Thirumangalam areas and said it would be extended to other parts of the city.
The integration of TROZ, NIC and Vahan was underway for over two years. The Centre recently approved it, he said, after inaugurating the Upgraded Automated Regulation Observation Zone Control Room.
Began in 2019 when AK Viswanathan was the police commissioner, the TROZ system was integrated with NIC to provide enhanced road safety and traffic management.
Hyundai Motor India Foundation (HMIF) invested Rs 3.18 Cr in the surveillance system project and installed 63 sophisticated cameras and a fully equipped monitoring room to strengthen road discipline and reduce the offence rate.
The system has now been upgraded to automatically generate e-challans to motorists violating traffic rules like signal jumps, crossing the stoplines, driving on the wrong side and over-speeding. The cameras would click an image of the vehicle and, after reading the number plate, would find the owner of the vehicle through the integrated system as it contains details from the transport department and vehicle registration office.
After identifying the motorist, an e-challan generated by the machine would be sent to the motorist’s mobile number; a notice would be sent home. “In the manual system, traffic police used to book 200-250 cases a day within police station limits. The trial run of the new system may lead to booking of 90,000-1,00,000 cases a day. The enforcement level may increase by 300 times. This is a pilot project here. We are planning to extend across the city,” said Shankar Jiwal.
He added that the city police is planning to upgrade the system to capture helmet-rule violation and triple riding. He also said that the police department would welcome any corporate company ready to sponsor installation of CCTV or any other surveillance cameras in the city.
Ganesh Mani S, Trustee – Hyundai Motor India Foundation, said: “Integration of Traffic Regulation Observed Zone with National Informatics Centre will support the Traffic authorities and will be beneficial to the society at large.” After TROZ was launched in Anna Nagar, traffic-rule violations were slashed by over 50 per cent right after implementation, and stopline violations reduced by over 90 per cent.