Ahmedabad: Drivers who think they have hoodwinked cops on duty or dodged CCTV cameras after a traffic offence, will soon find out that they cannot outsmart the system, and avoid fines. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is mounting an advanced and wider surveillance mechanism — on wheels. The civic body’s e-governance department plans to install 1,000 dashcams on AMTS and BRTS buses to get a wider picture on traffic offences and to issue e-challans, all in real time.
A Rs 26 crore tender has been floated for the dashcams, which will do more than just capture traffic offences on the go. An AMC official speaking anonymously said that the cams with artificial intelligence will also capture images of potholes and rubbish on roads and relay information to the command control centre in Paldi. The initial task, however, will be to record traffic violations to generate e-challans. Nine years ago, Ahmedabad Smart City Company, managed by AMC, had planned installing 6,500 CCTV cameras at all traffic junctions across the city — 290 — in all – under the Safe and Secure Ahmedabad (SASA) project for Rs 239 crore. Of this, Rs 16.20 crore was spent on installing 1,999 CCTV cameras at 130 junctions. Out of these, cameras at 110 junctions are operational, generating e-challans. AMC plans to cover 100 additional junctions.Although 16 junctions on the Sabarmati Riverfront were earmarked for CCTV installation, only two are operational. E-challans are being issued from the Vallabh Sadan Junction. The Navrangpura ward has the highest number of operational CCTV cams (347), followed by Bodakdev (170), and Jodhpur (137). Other wards with over 100 cameras include Naranpura (120), Jamalpur (118), and Maninagar (106).In 2018-19, 242 CCTV cameras were installed at 17 signals, 1,170 at 75 signals in 2019-20, and 587 cameras at 38 signals in 2020-21. However, from 2021-22 to 2023-24, no cameras have been installed at any signal. AMC’s heritage and recreational committee at its Jan 31 meeting discussed the issue of 44% of cameras in the city’s gardens being defunct. Of the 458 cameras installed in 122 gardens, only 257 work; 153 are non-functional, and 48 under maintenance.
