NOIDA: The city’s ambitious smart traffic management system system — that proposes to use advanced technologies and a surveillance web of cameras to manage traffic and an array of sensors to detect violators and criminals — is finally expected to become a reality.
The Noida Authority on Monday released a tender for its ‘integrated security and traffic management system’, which aims to manage vehicular movement and security across 84 busy intersections.
With an estimated cost of Rs 88.44 crore, the ambitious project can potentially change the way the city governs motorists, commuters and public transport and also beef up the overall security level.
Planned over several busy intersections and traffic crossings across Noida, the project will provide a hi-tech surveillance system to check traffic violations as well as speeding. The authority has now also introduced a facial recognition system and an environmental sensor system — features that can bring down the crime rate through quick identification of the faces of offenders on the run and issue timely alerts when pollution level crosses the acceptable thresholds, respectively.
Besides streamlining vehicular movement, the project also aims to improve overall administration and disseminate traffic-related updates to the commuters.
Apart from traffic surveillance cameras, the project will also bring in an adaptive traffic control system, an automatic number plate recognition system, a red-light violation detection system, an automatic traffic counting and classification system, variable display message boards, a public address system, an e-challan system, an emergency call-box system as well as a command and control system.
Officials involved with the process revealed that certain conditions have been relaxed to give a level playing field to Indian technology companies. During the discussions with potential bidders in the past, many Class I and Class II category companies had pointed out the stringent conditions of the overall project.
Under the Make in India initiative, the Union government had revised the public procurement order in June to give preference in government purchases of goods and services. Consequently, authority officials incorporated the points suggested by the department for promotion of industry and internal trade under the ministry of commerce and industry as per the Make in India initiative.
The authority had finalised the tender document in February. At that time, guidelines or recommendation for government procurement were not prescribed.
In-charge of Noida Authority’s traffic cell, SC Mishra said that certain certifications required for the bidders have been relaxed. “Domestic original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), during the discussions, told us fulfilling all the conditions is proving to be difficult. Hence, we have tweaked certain conditions. Even if one company, which fulfils all the norms participates in the bid, we will consider awarding the tender to it,” said Mishra.
The authority is expected to finalise the bidder after the Diwali-break. The officials said that the new traffic management system could be implemented in six months after the work order is awarded.
The authority’s officials said that the existing highway traffic management system control room will be integrated with the upcoming project.