Chennai: Cameras to track traffic violators

CHENNAI: Speeding vehicles at Nandanam, Halda and Kathipara junction will have to keep themselves in check after the Greater Chennai traffic police installed nine Automatic Number Plate Reading (ANPR) cameras at these junctions on Monday.
In the new system, policemen do not have to physically intercept violators. The cameras capture the vehicle's registration number and a challan, along with a TV grab of the violation, is sent to their homes.
Three cameras each have been installed at these locations at a cost of 10 lakh sponsored by the Chennai Runners Association.
Police commissioner A K Vishwanathan, while launching the new system, said the cameras have been mainly installed to curb stunt biking and overspeeding. "Bikes which exceed the prescribed limit would be easily caught," he said.
These cameras will help build a database of vehicles plying on the road and book violators without the help of police personnel on the road. They will also help trace stolen vehicles. Photographs of vehicles flouting the rules will be attached to the e-challans. The cameras will be linked to the transport department database as well to enable automatic serving of e-challans.
Last year, 8 cameras were installed at Muttukadu to keep a database of vehicles entering and exiting the city via the East Coast Road. Muttukadu marks the beginning of the city police's jurisdiction, and the cameras will help police identify overspeeding vehicles on the road if required.
After introducing cashless enforcement in 2018, the traffic police have been trying to implement contactless enforcement systems. As a pilot, 64 high-end cameras embedded with ANPR software were installed in Anna Nagar where 90,000 cases were booked on a single day.
Senior officials said the traffic police will be installing similar high-end cameras with ANPR and Red Light Violation Detection System (RLVD) at other locations too. From Lighthouse to Napier Bridge, there will be 62 cameras at six locations, and from Muthuswamy Bridge to Velpanachavadi, there will be 328 cameras at 29 locations. Traffic police have sent nearly 10,000 challans to violators since last year.
Additional commissioner of police, traffic, A Arun and joint commissioner of police, traffic, South, K Ejilearassane were present.