KOCHI: In a move to curb overspeeding by buses in the city, the Kochi Range Inspector General of Police has recommended installation of GPS and cameras inside the buses. Kochi Range IG M R Ajith Kumar filed the report following the High Court order to inquire into the issues relating to the ‘red rage’ surging in the city. The court issued the order on a suo motu filed in the recent attack on a commuter who questioned the overspeeding of buses.
The court had observed that innovative steps in this regard were required, not only in the interest of travellers but also to enhance functional efficiency of the police. IG informed the Court that the government had already assigned Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) the job of developing a software for the entire state to digitalise bus timings.
Those timings would help make a comprehensive analysis of the vehicle movement, and, at the same time, develop a more rationalised system, which would also prevent the issues between the private buses, the IG said. He suggested to provide a RFID (Radio-frequency Identification) tracking system in the buses. A RFID tag with a unique serial number would be programmed in the software and attached to the windshield of a bus. The RFID reader with GPRS interface installed at every check point will read the timings of each bus moving in both directions.
The RFID will also scan the serial number from the tag fixed on each bus when it passes through the punching station and send it to a remote server to verify data. All reports are said to be available at RTO offices.
To curb overspeeding in private buses, the department had already asked the police to register FIR compulsorily whenever an issue is raised between private buses. Instead of releasing the vehicles at police station the buses would be produced before judicial authorities for disposal. The police would also request to cancel the permits initially for three months and permanently in some deserving cases.
The police submitted that during the period of June 26 to July 15, they had registered 73 suo motu cases and 622 petty cases.