Traffic cops to deploy drones at 8 junctions

Bengaluru: Traffic police on Monday carried out a study of motor vehicles entering the city from Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) direction at Hebbal flyover for over 90 minutes. They flew a drone to appraise the traffic flow. Unlike a manual study of traffic flow, the drone gave different pictures of traffic from above, helping cops identify major spots where vehicles either slowed down or even came to a halt for a while. Police plan to carry out similar experimental studies at seven other major junctions known to have traffic jams — Marathahalli, KR Puram, Iblur, Silk Board, Sarakki, Banashankari temple, and Goraguntepalya.Joint commissioner of police (traffic) MN Anucheth told TOI they have two drone cameras now and will soon purchase two more. “About 20 traffic cops have been trained to fly the drones. Soon, more will be trained,” he said.Asked how different it was to study traffic movement using a drone, Anucheth said, “We can have a bird’s-eye view of the traffic and congestions. If there are bottlenecks and bumper-to-bumper movement at a certain junction, we can look at the possibility of diverting the traffic or making other quick arrangements.”Asked about the insights the drone helped them gain at Hebbal flyover, he said, “On Monday, we studied how the vehicles moved at three junctions — those coming from KIA and moving on the flyover, those taking the road beneath the flyover, and the point where traffic (Hennur and Jalahalli side) merged with vehicles heading towards city.”
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