T’puram: Traffic violations in the capital are set to come under intensified surveillance, with 300 cameras installed at 34 Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) junctions nearing the final stage of integration with the Parivahan platform. However, their rollout for traffic enforcement will require permission from the motor vehicles department (MVD), police said.The camera network comprises 234 automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras and 46 red light violation detection (RLVD) cameras installed under the Smart City Mission. A system integrating agency contracted by Smart City Mission is currently carrying out the integration and demonstration of the cameras with the Parivahan system on a trial basis.The police control room under the assistant commissioner of police (ACP) is handling the camera system from the police side. An ACP associated with the system confirmed that the trial integration is in its final stage.“The trial run of the integration is going on and is in the final stage. Before the final implementation, permission from MVD will be required,” police said.The cameras are designed to detect several traffic violations, including speeding, jumping red lights, riding without helmets, failure to wear seatbelts, and using mobile phones while driving. Once the system is cleared for implementation, the camera-generated data is expected to be used by the police for traffic enforcement and processing e-challans.However, the procedure for verifying violations before issuing e-challans is yet to be finalised. Police sources said the possibility of manually verifying each violation detected by the system before issuing a challan will be discussed as part of the implementation process.A source at the office of the city police commissioner said a meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday to discuss the implementation of the camera-based enforcement system. The meeting is expected to take up operational arrangements, including how camera-detected violations will be verified and processed before enforcement action is initiated.The meeting comes as the technical integration of the cameras with the Parivahan platform is nearing completion. The authorities are now preparing to move the system from the trial stage towards regular enforcement.The Smart City Mission source said the system integrating agency was conducting demonstrations to ensure that the cameras and their integration with the Parivahan platform function properly before the system is handed over for enforcement.An expert committee comprising experts from the College of Engineering, Trivandrum (CET), Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Kerala IT Mission and the police has also been constituted to study the functioning and impact of the system.The committee is expected to examine the technical performance of the cameras, reliability of the data generated and their effectiveness in detecting traffic violations. Its assessment will be relevant to the implementation of the system, particularly in determining the reliability of the technology for enforcement purposes.Sources said the system could move towards enforcement by the end of this month or next month, subject to completion of the remaining approvals and procedures.
