It?s the dead of night and you?re alone. Suddenly, you realise that a gang has raided the apartment below yours. It?s your turn next. You think calling the police control would mean a long wait, right?

Wrong. If Calcutta Police?s new project falls in place, a police jeep armed with officers could reach you in a flash, thanks to Geographical Information System (GIS).

In line with the policing followed in some of the best cities across the world, Calcutta Police proposes to instal a system of mapping the city?s lanes and bylanes with the help of GIS and feed the data to a central monitor system in the police control room for continuous monitoring.

The Rs 3-crore project, already submitted to the Centre, proposes to use this information derived with the help of GIS to direct a police vehicle, on rounds, to reach a particular spot almost immediately, even before the local police station can react, through the shortest possible route.

To achieve this, nearly 200 police vehicles will be fitted with transponders, so that their movements at any given time of the day can be also monitored from the police control with the help of automatic vehicle tracking system.

Mumbai Police has already kicked off the project on a trial basis in a few areas. Chennai?s force plans to use it soon.

?We have already held meetings with three companies, including a British firm, in this connection and each of them has been asked to submit proposals. The companies will have to give us a demonstration. We have asked them to map a portion of the Maidan and fit two police vehicles with transponders as a test case,? said Kuldiep Singh, joint commissioner of police (administration).

The project, which has been developed with cues from policing by Scotland Yard, will ensure that the ?reaction time? for police is brought down remarkably while tackling a crisis or an emergency.

For cops, this system can be every effective for handling crimes like kidnapping, abduction and even murder.

?In an abduction, it is imperative that cops reach the spot on time. Besides, if we get to know the exit route of the vehicle in which the hostage has been forced into, then the information can be passed on to the control room. From the control room, officers can direct police vehicles on duty on a particular road to rush and stop the vehicle from going out,? said a senior officer of the detective department.