In the days to come, if traffic rule violators on a 14-km-long stretch on Delhi's Ring Road corridor think they had gotten away with no cop flagging them down, they would be surprised to receive the challans for their offence at their homes.
In an effort to make roads safer and better to drive on, the Union Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Maruti Suzuki India and the Delhi Police on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to install the first phase of the fully Integrated Traffic Safety Management System (TSMS) on the Ring Road stretch between Sarai Kale Khan and Dhaula Kuan.
In the first phase, the TSMS will be set up between Dhaula Kuan and Sarai Kale Khan and t will cover a total 10 junctions along the route including Ashram, Lajpat Nagar, Kotla Mubarakpur, Aurobindo Marg, Africa Avenue and Rao Tula Ram Marg.
Once the violation is detected, the cameras will record the vehicle registration number and send the information to the data server and the police control room. After the data is generated, the violator will be issued an e-challan (fine).
Under the project, Maruti will install TSMS having advanced cameras,x including Red Light Violation Detection System (RLVDS), Speed Violation Detection System (SVDS) and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system. The system will be connected to a common control room through a cyber highway of optical fibre cables. These advanced camera systems will make it possible to simultaneously capture red-light violation as well as speed violation by a vehicle. The Centre had conceptualized the IITMS in 2008. The project is likely to be operational in the next one year. In addition, Maruti Suzuki and Delhi Police also plan to engage with academic institutions and social groups to spread awareness on traffic enforcement systems and safe driving practices in the national capital.
The MoA was signed in the presence of Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, and Shipping and Water Resources and Anil Baijal, Lt Governor of Delhi. Y S Malik, secretary (Road Transport & Highways), MORTH, Amulya Patnaik, commissioner, Delhi Police and K Ayukawa, MD and CEO, Maruti Suzuki, were among the dignitaries present. TSMS project is the first of its kind in the National capital, which is in line with the Central Government's focus to make roads safe and bring down accidents and fatalities.
Maruti Suzuki will invest Rs 15 crore towards setting up of the TSMS. In the first phase, 160 cameras will be installed at 10 major intersections. The system will be made operational in a fortnight and will be on trial for a year. The police deploy about 150 men to manage traffic between Sarai Kale Khan and Dhaula Kuan through the day.
According to Delhi police, all cameras would be equipped with non-intrusive sensors capable of capturing movement of multiple vehicles simultaneously and creating an hourly log of it. A vehicle violating the speed limit or jumping a red light will automatically be detected and a challan will be generated from an automatic challaning machine with a grab of the violation. According to government statistics, last year around 1,495 people lost their lives to road accidents in Delhi, which is among the highest in the country.