BHUBANESWAR: Traffic violators on National Highway-16 will soon receive e-challans through SMS within 10 minutes of committing an offence. Immediate information on committing an offence will alert the drivers and help in reducing road accidents and fatalities, the Transport department said.
The department has started work on installing artificial intelligence (AI) cameras on the NH between Khurda and Jajpur districts. A Kolkata-based firm - NIS Facility Management Services private limited had won the tender bid and so far installed CCTV gantry poles at 21 locations in Khurda, Cuttack and Jajpur districts.
Each gantry pole has six AI cameras which will detect traffic violations on both sides of the roads on NH-16. On a pilot basis, the project has been implemented from Rameswar in Khurda district to Panikoili in Jajpur district. “The department has been emphasising implementing Intelligent Enforcement Management System (IEMS) to ensure drivers/riders abide by the rules. In the first phase, the AI cameras which are equipped with automatic number-plate recognition facility have been installed in about 100 km stretch between Rameswar and Panikoili,” a senior official told The New Indian Express.
These cameras will help to detect violations like overspeeding, triple riding, riding without a helmet, and overloading of goods vehicles, among others. As the cameras have been integrated with e-Challan, Vahan and Sarathi applications, they will also be able to detect if a vehicle is plying without valid documents.
The command centre of the AI cameras has been set up at the regional transport office (RTO-I) in the State Capital. Once the cameras detect a violation, an alert will be sounded in the command centre about the specific offence committed by a driver/rider. The operators in the command centre will immediately share the information about the violations with the enforcement officers. The enforcement officers will issue an e-challan, and the details including the place and the offence committed will be sent via a text message to the violator within 10 minutes.
The cameras are ready for operations at 17 locations and the remaining four places will be completed soon. Transport Commissioner-cum-State Transport Authority (STA) Chairman Arun Bothra recently reviewed the project and directed the implementing agency to complete the work by July 12.
Besides 21 locations, the Transport department has initiated the work to install AI cameras on gantry poles in bordering areas of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal. The installation work of AI cameras in the bordering areas of Ganjam, Bargarh and Balasore is expected to be completed within a month. These cameras will not only help the Transport Department but also the State Police to keep a track of the vehicles entering Odisha, said sources.
Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) has already installed AI cameras at 14 locations in the city. Similar technology has been implemented on the road between Sundargarh and Rourkela.