Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based ‘COVID surveillance’ cameras that can detect body temperature and whether a person is wearing mask will be installed at key railway stations in the State.
Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Thrissur and Nagercoil, the key railway stations falling under the Thiruvananthapuram railway division, have been identified for installing the surveillance cameras, a railway official said. Already, Thiruvananthapuram Central has a metal detector thermal imaging camera and Palakkad Junction is tipped to get one.
Stations that need surveillance cameras in the adjoining Palakkad railway division have not been identified, railway sources said. The surveillance cameras will be handy for Railways, the Health authorities and the law enforcers once the train operations commence in full swing. In the next level of containment strategy, it will have a big role in screening the train passengers and curbing the spread of virus.
Railways have already entrusted its zones to procure AI-based COVID surveillance cameras to check the virus spread through railway network. RailTel, the telecom arm of Indian Railways, has floated bids to purchase 800 surveillance cameras.
Large areas can be covered by the thermal cameras which can detect and record temperatures of many people at once, especially those coming in long distance mail and express trains.
Migrant labourers
The State’s first thermal and optical imaging camera with AI-powered face detection technology was first used in Thiruvananthapuram Central and later in the international airport. Procured using the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) funds of Shashi Tharoor, MP, the ₹7.45-lakh camera was first used for scanning migrant labourers before they were allowed to board the Shramik Special to Jharkhand.