Live monitoring to help reduce traffic snarls in Chennai
CHENNAI: To manage traffic, the city traffic police will employ speed radar guns and make use of live traffic monitor systems to reduce vehicular traffic on 300 junctions in the city. The city police commissioner, Shankar Jiwal, inaugurated equipment worth Rs 7 crore on Monday.
A live traffic monitor will provide real-time traffic information. The Greater Chennai Traffic Police (GCTP) in collaboration with a private company in IIT Madras Research Park has set up the system that will cost Rs 1 crore per year.
Commissioner Jiwal said, “This system offers 100% coverage with real-time data which facilitates the study of incoming and outgoing traffic. This does simultaneous live monitoring of all 300 proposed junctions covering around 1,000 roads automatically by gathering data from the paid service of Google Maps and analyses information about traffic flow, speed, and incidents.”
The commissioner also inaugurated 10-speed radars along with ANPR cameras at a cost of Rs 54.33 lakh.
“Sometimes, people indulge in stunts and accidents occur due to overspeeding. We could not effectively enforce the motor vehicle rules by only deploying our personnel. Now, we will track violators and send out an automatic challan. If one exceeds 40 km/hr in the daytime and 50 km/hr in the night hours, the device will automatically get a picture and issue a challan. We have collaborated with the National Informatic Centre, so the challan will reach violators automatically,” he said.
Kapil C Saratkar, the additional commissioner of traffic, said the speed limit could vary from vehicle to vehicle. For instance, autorickshaws should not exceed 25 km/hr. The equipment has been installed in Anna Arivayalam junction, Dr Gurusamy Bridge, Pullah Avenue, Ration Shop Junction in Maduravoyal, Parry’s Corner junction, Injambakkam and Spencer Plaza. It will be installed in 20 more places soon, said the police.