Bhubaneswar, March 20: Police have sought an annual fund of Rs 5 lakh from the home department to meet the expenses of sending notices to traffic violators detected through the newly installed closed-circuit television cameras at AG Square.
Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee
Though the sensor-based Red Light Violation Detection and the Automatic Number Plate Recognition systems were introduced at the square in February, not a single violator has, so far, been served with a notice.
The Red Light Violation Detection system is equipped with sensors, which would automatically identify vehicles jumping red lights and touching zebra crossing at the AG Square traffic signal.
The camera zooms on the number plate of the vehicle violating traffic norms and captures the image of the registration plate.
Since the installation, the cameras have caught nearly 6,000 traffic violators at AG Square.
"So far, we have detected around 6,000 violators through the closed-circuit cameras. We would serve them notices as soon as we get funds for it," said a police official of the traffic wing.
The police said they required a fund of Rs 5 lakh annually for sending notices to the violators by post. "The postal charge for sending a notice is Rs 5, and we are detecting around 200 violators every day through the closed-circuit cameras only at AG Square," said a senior police official.
"We have written to the home department, seeking a special fund for this purpose," he said.
The police had introduced CCTV-based surveillance system in February to keep tabs on the violators and manage the traffic better.
In the initial phase, as many as 114 CCTVs were installed at 28 locations in the city, including AG Square, Master Canteen Square, Rajmahal Square, Airport Square, Kalpana Square and Kalinga Hospital Square.
Besides, the police have also started detection of traffic violations at other traffic junctions in the city through the CCTVs.
Residents also raised question on the efficacy of the newly introduced system. "The state government has spent crores of rupees for installation of the CCTV cameras in the city. But, it is sad that not a single violator has been served notice so far," said Manoj Pradhan, a resident.
