Edappally-Aroor NH 66 bypass yet to have AI-powered cameras

The stretch is considered the busiest national highway corridor in Kerala

Artificial Intelligence-enabled cameras to keep tabs on traffic rule violations are conspicuous by their absence on the 16-km Edappally-Aroor NH Bypass, which is highly accident-prone and is considered the busiest national highway corridor in Kerala.

The corridor is also notorious for, among others, racing by youth in illegally-altered motorbikes. Still, not even a pair of the 726 AI-enabled cameras, that were installed on highways and arterial roads recently, were put up on the stretch where passenger vehicles, goods carriers, and pedestrians jostle for space. AI-camera surveillance is limited to the extreme end of the bypass, at Aroor.

Pointing to the need for multiple AI-cameras on the stretch, police sources said fatalities involving pedestrians were high, while two-wheeler riders were equally vulnerable to accidents due to rash-driving, gross violation of lane-traffic norms, haphazard parking, and unscientific location of bus stops.

A dozen AI-cameras were needed on the Varapuzha Junction-Edappally-Aroor stretch, said Upendra Narayanan, expert member, Kerala Road Safety Authority (KRSA). “This is mainly because the corridor has a mix of intra-city, inter-district and inter-State vehicular traffic and also witnesses severe indiscipline by all types of road users. Violation of lane discipline is the norm on the corridor, putting them at risk. Manual patrol too is needed to enforce traffic rules since even excavators and tricycles of ragpickers use the main carriageway. I recently took up these issues with high-ranking police officers and other stakeholders. On its part, the agency collecting toll has failed to provide adequate street lights, reflectors and other infrastructure which would improve visibility,” he said.

A senior Motor Vehicles department official said the locations for the 726 AI cameras were decided in 2019, focused mainly on ‘black spots’ where accidents were the highest. “Apart from stepped up enforcement by way of surveillance cameras, there is need to provide adequate skilled personnel to the Kerala Road Safety Authority, so that it can effectively function as an umbrella body that would coordinate with agencies that own roads, those that enforce norms and road-safety experts.”