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New Delhi: Cuttack is set to strengthen traffic enforcement with the rollout of AI-powered smart cameras from July. With the new system, the traffic violations will be automatically detected, and e-challans will be sent, eliminating the need to manually process with the traffic police. The Commissionerate Police are also taking the step to enhance the safety of road users and compliance with traffic rules.

The cameras will be mounted at 22 major traffic junctions across the city, with the assistance of AI. Officials say the project is in its final stage, and once operational, it will monitor violations such as overspeeding, signal jumping, riding without a helmet, and illegal parking. The system is expected to increase the transparency and effectiveness of traffic enforcement.

The project is designed to enhance the adherence to traffic rules and minimise manual involvement in the challan process, as stated by Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Jayant Kumar Dora, in Cuttack. ‘Installation work in the identified junctions is close to completion, and the system will be operational in July,’ he said.

The smart cameras will employ artificial intelligence, radar technology, automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) and smart enforcement to detect traffic offences. The details of the vehicle and supporting evidence will be transferred immediately to the Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS) control room after detecting an offence. Then the system will automatically generate and send an e-challan to the offender.

The technology-based system is expected to enhance overall roadway discipline and provide impartial enforcement. ‘The goal of it is to make commuters safer by better tracking them with technology and intervening on time when they violate,’ said Dora.

With the narrow roads and high traffic density in Cuttack, the initiative is timely to alleviate the congestion. There are busy junctions like Madhupatna, Badambadi and Khannagar where over 30,000 vehicles are reportedly passing through daily. The city also has a high volume of commuters and commercial vehicles coming from Bhubaneswar, Jajpur, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur, adding to the congestion in the city during peak hours.

The implementation of AI-driven traffic enforcement has been well-received by many residents, with a particular focus on the effective implementation of the system, but there are also concerns about potential technical inaccuracies. The system will be useful if the authorities take immediate action to solve the e-challan dispute, road safety expert Bikash Mohapatra has said.

A special grievance redressal mechanism should be created to enable the commuters to report technical problems and correct the wrongly issued challan without any kind of delay, he added.