CHANDIGARH: The Sadak Surakhya Force (SSF), Punjab Police's dedicated highway patrol force for saving the lives of commuters, will integrate drones, satellite imagery and artificial intelligence powered predictive systems in its flagship project, making it India's first 3D policing model.
In Phase II of the SSF expansion, the proposed 3D policing model will combine drones, satellite imagery and AI powered predictive systems to create real time situational awareness, anticipate risks and support faster police response, making overall traffic and road safety policing more versatile.
It will also extend SSF coverage from the existing 5,500 km to 6,000 km of state roads. The longer term Vision SSF 2047 seeks to build an integrated road safety ecosystem combining satellite data, artificial intelligence, drones and geospatial technologies.
Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav said, "With an aim of digital enforcement integrating Artificial Intelligence and satellite data, the ‘Vision SSF 2047’ includes achieving minimal road accidents, fully green mobility corridors, and establishing regional research hubs under the Punjab Road Safety and Traffic Research Centre (PRSTRC)."
"The sole target of this project is making Punjab India's road safety hub using science, systems, and synergy. Punjab Police will use satellite communication and geospatial data for incident mapping, congestion prediction, and disaster management. The SSF is already India's first dedicated force for highway safety."
"We are further exploring the possibilities to integrate it with geostationary nano or micro satellite of our own," he added.
The SSF project works under various arms, including the Intelligent Transport Management System (ITMS), which serves as the technological backbone by integrating AI, IoT sensors and real time analytics for automated enforcement, smart surveillance and data driven traffic planning.
With Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) based enforcement, predictive analytics and mobile interceptors, the police have already achieved an average accident response time of under seven minutes.
Under the ‘Road Safety Punjab’ vision, traffic management is being transformed using the 7E Framework: Engineering, Enforcement, Education, Electronics, Emergency Care, Engagement and Evaluation. This strategy marks a shift from intuition based management to an evidence based, technology-driven approach.
On the other hand, the PRSTRC leads research, consultancy and training. It is supported by Research Advisory Groups (RAGs) from academia, industry and civil society.
Special DGP (Traffic and Road Safety Punjab) Amardeep Singh Rai said, "Regular police are trained for law and order, which is a very different and broad skillset. The SSF, on the other hand, received highly specialised training with a clear, non negotiable priority: saving lives. The SSF personnel were put through specific training modules on emergency response and first aid, including training from the Red Cross, and are trained in ‘crash investigation’."
"The entire force is built around one concept: the platinum 10 minutes, which mandates reaching an accident victim within six to eight minutes to provide immediate medical relief before the ambulance or hospital takes over."
"In addition, they are not pulled for VIP duty or diverted for local law and order issues. Their sole key performance indicator (KPI) is road safety and victim assistance," he added.
The SSF was officially launched on January 27, 2024, in Jalandhar and was created to tackle Punjab's high rate of road accident fatalities, which was averaging 17 to 18 deaths per day.
From February 2024 to January 2026, the SSF attended 43,983 road accidents, helping a total of 47,386 people. During these interventions, 19,973 persons were provided first aid at the spot, while 27,413 injured persons were shifted to hospitals, contributing towards saving lives through prompt emergency response and medical assistance.
The force is equipped with 144 high tech vehicles and more than 1,600 specially trained personnel, including nearly 28 per cent women recruits.
The teams are strategically deployed every 30 kilometres along 4,100 km of critical national and state highways and major district roads. SSF teams respond to accidents within an average of six to 10 minutes, significantly faster than global benchmarks.
Built around the "platinum 10 minutes" principle, SSF personnel aim to reach accident victims within six to eight minutes to provide immediate medical assistance before the ambulance or hospital takes over.
The vehicles are equipped with speed guns, alcometers (breathalysers), e challan machines, dash cams and first aid kits.
Yadav said, "Personnel received specialised training, including crash investigation and emergency medical response. For the last two years, reports consistently show a massive 45 to 48 per cent drop in road accident fatalities on the specific highway stretches they patrol. On such SSF manned roads, fatalities reportedly dropped from 1,955 in 2023 to 1,016 in 2024. That's approximately 940 lives saved on those specific corridors in about a year."
