Pune Police – Smart Technology For Smarter Traffic Management

September 1, 2017

Traffic control Pune — Centralised CCTV systems at Pune Police Commissioner Office.

Paving the way for effective traffic management on our streets, the Pune police started a centralised viewing facility of CCTV cameras that capture any traffic violations or obstructions that take place and file an e-challan against traffic offenders. This initiative was started around three months ago and was inaugurated by Pune Police Commissioner, Rashmi Shukla.

“On field, we have 425 e-challan machines. Offenders can pay by cash or by card. They can also pay up at any of the 75 Vodafone galleries in the city. We have teamed up with the RTO on their application ‘Vahan’, which helps us find the owner of the vehicle,” explains Deputy Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Ashok Morale.

The police also released a video recently to help explain the functionality of this new initiative. There are 1,250 cameras in 440 locations around Pune. Out of these, 280 are PTZ cameras that provide a wide area coverage and detail.

But how effective is this initiative?

DCP Morale tells Pune365 that only a handful of the people fined have paid up. “We have fined more than three lakh people so far. Around 80,000 of them have paid up. We have collected around Rs 50 lakh till now. Those who don’t pay regularly get messages from us to do so. People are also free to send us messages or videos of offenders on the streets on our WhatsApp number. There is a mass violation when it comes to helmets. We’ve run campaigns as well as put up close to 600 posters and flexes around the city to raise awareness about this. I cannot claim whether or not this has helped but I have been receiving positive messages.”

As of now, DCP Morale claims that they have drafted a list of 2000 people who have violated traffic norms more than five times.

“We have identified such concerns and we have issued a notice to these people. There are those who have deposited the fine on time. The people who haven’t paid past their due date will be dealt with in court. The process will take a while to streamline.” He also claims that such an initiative has a wider scope to solve other police cases, “Since we’re taking help of the RTO for this, it will help us catch vehicles who aren’t registered or vehicles that have been stolen.”

More than two policemen are supposed to stand at traffic signals to direct and control commuters. Despite traffic, commuters are often faced with poorly leveled roads filled with potholes. As Ganeshotsav approaches its end, the police have already kept a tight watch around 25 chowks where it gets heavily crowded during peak hours.