Gurugram: Drone to help cops tackle snarls, unclog roads and deter violators

GURUGRAM: The city may soon see a drone zipping through its skies manning traffic and even warding violators, who trigger snarls, off highways and internal roads.
The traffic police department has prepared an extensive plan to decongest urban clusters in Gurugram. Besides aerial surveillance, the traffic department has also identified over half a dozen spots where changes are being made in road engineering and infrastructure to streamline vehicular movement.
According to sources, traffic police plans to procure at least one drone ahead of the monsoons as part of the department’s efforts to prevent a re-run of 2016’s Gurujam, and last year’s flooding of Hero Honda Chowk and Medanta underpass.The device will be exclusively used by Gurugram traffic police to identify the cause of congestion during rush hours. Although officials are tight-lipped about the project, a senior officer told TOI a request for the drone has already been processed.
DCP (traffic) Himanshu Garg said, “We require a drone with a wide view and night-vision camera. Certain permissions are mandatory before getting a drone. Things are yet to be finalised.”
“It is not possible to identify the exact reason and spot of congestion during peak hours. Aerial shots will help in such critical situations. Our plan is to procure the drone before monsoons, because that’s when traffic jams increase,” added Garg.
Traffic police have also identified six spots across the city where snarls are frequently reported. These include Tikri intersection, JMD Chowk, South City 2, Vatika Chowk, Huda City Centre and Udyog Vihar’s Hanuman Chowk.
Changes have been made to improve vehicular movement at two of these spots over the past week. At Tikri intersection, cones have been placed to streamline movement at the U-turn. “We noticed that vehicles tend to avoid the potholed areas, due to which a part of the road remains unused. We’ve patched up such spots too. Now, all four lanes are being used by vehicles,” said Garg.
At Huda City Centre, pedestrians exiting the station will have to compulsorily use the nearby foot-overbridge to cross the road. Traffic police personnel have been deployed along the stretch to curb illegal parking by auto-rickshaws and cabs. A lane near the womens’ auto booth has been allotted as parking space for public transport. The other spots identified will also be covered soon, Garg said.