Kolkata: Kolkata Traffic Police will launch a pilot project on Maa Flyover for digital checking of vehicle documents, including pollution and fitness certificates, using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras. Kolkata Police and the National Informatics Centre (NIC) have entered into an agreement for developing this system.With this system in place, there will be no need to conduct manual checks on the flyover. While the initiative will start with Maa flyover as a pilot project, it would then be extended to the rest of the city. The cameras will read a vehicle’s number plate and check its details against govt records.“If the records show that a vehicle’s Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate or fitness certificate has expired, the system will alert the traffic police. The vehicle can then be checked and action can be taken”, a senior police officer said.The system will connect number-plate cameras with vehicle records, so that the traffic police can find document violations without having to stop vehicles for routine checks, said another senior traffic police officer.Police said the camera will first scan the vehicle’s registration number. It will then check the vehicle’s records in the govt database.“If the pollution under control certificate or the fitness certificate has expired, the vehicle can be flagged for further action,” a traffic cop said. The system will also allow cops to send e-challans to the registered owners of the vehicles, which have been found without valid documents. If the system works well, police plan to introduce it on other important roads and flyovers in Kolkata.The advanced cameras are already being used as part of Kolkata’s traffic surveillance system.These have been installed at several entry and exit points of the city.TOI had reported earlier this year that Kolkata Police had planned to increase the number of CCTV cameras in the city to around 10,000.The city is also expected to get 6,700 more CCTV cameras and 50 ANPR cameras under Nirbhaya Project-II. The project will cost around Rs 58.2 crore.Under the existing traffic rules, drivers must carry documents such as the registration certificate, PUC certificate and insurance papers. Transport vehicles must also have valid fitness certificates and permits.
