Mysuru: The police department has launched a project to install 400 artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled cameras along state and national highways passing through Mysuru district to improve traffic management, monitor speeding vehicles and strengthen crime surveillance.The project, being implemented under the Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) at a cost of Rs 5 crore, will see cameras installed at 200 strategic locations across the district.Of the 400 cameras proposed, 300 are high-resolution CCTV cameras equipped with night vision and vandal-proof, weatherproof features. The remaining 100 are automatic number plate rRecognition (ANPR) cameras capable of reading vehicle registration numbers even when vehicles are travelling at speeds of up to 100 kmph.Installed at 200 strategic locations under the intelligent traffic management system, the project has been taken up at a cost of Rs 5 crore. The AI-enabled system can also detect a range of traffic safety violations, including riding without helmets, triple riding, mobile phone use while riding, not wearing seat belts, illegal parking, wrong-way driving, drag racing, speeding on empty roads, stalled vehicles, pedestrians and other obstacles that require immediate police intervention.In the first phase, 32 ANPR cameras will be installed at 16 locations identified through GPS mapping in the Mysuru south police station limits. In the Hunsur subdivision, 39 cameras will be installed at 19 locations covering Hunsur city and rural police station limits, Bylakuppe, Periyapatna, H D Kote, Saragur and Antharasanthe.These AI-enabled cameras also detect traffic safety violations such as road hazards, riding without a helmet, triple riding, using a mobile phone while riding, not wearing a seat belt, illegal parking, wrong-way driving, drag racing on highways, speeding on empty roads, stalled vehicles, pedestrians and other obstacles,warranting immediate intervention by police.In the first phase, the department has planned to install 32 ANPR cameras at 16 different locations identified through GPS tracking in Mysuru south police station limits. 39 cameras are to be installed at 19 different locations identified in Hunsur subdivision, including Hunsur city, rural police station limits, Bylukuppe, Periyapatna, H D Kote, Saragur and Antharasanthe.Another 39 cameras are to be installed at 22 locations identified in Nanjangud Police subdivision limits, like T Narasipura, Nanjangud city and rural, Kavalande, Biligere, Hullahalli, Bannur and Talkad.Ahead of the rollout, the police department has decided to upgrade its control room at the office of the Superintendent of Police to support the new surveillance network.As the ITMS will be integrated with the e-challan platform and the national Vahan vehicle database, the system will automatically generate notices for traffic violations. These notices will be sent to vehicle owners through mobile phones and physical delivery. Violators will be able to pay penalties through electronic payment systems, officials said.As the Integrated Traffic Management System is integrated with the e-challan platform and the national Vahan vehicle database, the system will automatically generate traffic violation notices, which will be sent to vehicle owners’ mobile phones and to their doorsteps. The traffic violators on these stretches can pay the penalty through e-payments, said the officer.The new system is also designed for future expansion and can be upgraded from time to time to support adaptive traffic signals, variable message signboards, body-worn cameras, SOS panic system and self-payment kiosks without requiring major hardware changes.Speaking to TOI, superintendent of police Mallikarjuna Baladandi said that the department has already floated a global tender in this regard for the installation of these cameras along state and national highways passing through Mysuru district. Installation works will be started once the tender process is completed in another 15 days.“The installation of high-resolution CCTV and ANPR cameras along highway stretches helps the department not only to check highway lane indiscipline and traffic violations but also to solve crimes and ease investigations into incidents,” he said.
