The Lalbazar police headquarters: Cops a click away. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta police is launching its biggest-ever modernisation drive at a cost of Rs 28 crore, promising to gift the city “world-class service in all segments”.

The thrust of the “hi-tech” policing scheme, which starts next month, is on the development of a computerised traffic regulation system, complete with a digital map of the city and cameras installed at crossings to monitor vehicular movement. Senior officers said they are banking on the system to “track down vehicles speeding away after an accident or abductors fleeing with their victim”.

The project had been in the pipeline for the past two years, awaiting funds from the Centre. Last Thursday, Delhi finally okayed Rs 13.65 crore for the first phase.

“Such a project had never been initiated before. With the money, we are going to change our functioning by 2009. A major part of our job will be computerised,” said Kuldiep Singh, the special additional commissioner (IV) of police. “The company handling the project has assured us that we will be through with the upgrade within nine months,” Singh added. A number of professors from Jadavpur University and Besu, Shibpur, have volunteered to help implement the scheme.

“Traffic management is our top priority but we will also develop a host of other services, including ones that will help us establish a better connect with the people and zero in on policemen neglecting their duty on the road,” Singh explained.

As a first step, a digital map of the city will be installed in the Lalbazar control room. “All intersections and important buildings will be marked on the map,” said a senior officer. Cameras will be installed at 42 intersections and they will transmit signals round the clock to the traffic control room.

“The cameras will monitor traffic density at the crossings. If we come across excessive vehicular flow at a particular crossing, the signal post at the previous crossing will be automatically programmed to regulate traffic,” the officer pointed out.

The cameras will have in-built gadgets to read the registration numbers of the vehicles passing by. “If we know the registration number of a vehicle being used by criminals, we will feed it to the signalling system. The central control room will be alerted the moment the car passes through a crossing. Intercepting the car won’t be a problem then,” Singh said.

The authorities have also decided to install a gadget linked to the digital map in each police vehicle. “We will be able to monitor the position of all our vehicles. If a person in an emergency calls us, we will direct the closest police vehicle to the spot,” said the special additional commissioner.

Cameras will also be installed around the chief minister’s residence and major landmarks, like the Kalighat temple, Nandan and Writers’ Buildings.