Indore traffic police deploy ‘digital patrols’ on trial basis; high-tech drones catch over 200 violators

Indore: The Indore traffic police have deployed high-resolution drones to spot traffic violators across the city's busiest intersections, taking punitive action against over 200 commuters. This new ‘digital patrolling' initiative began in full force on a trial basis just a few days ago. DCP traffic in-charge Rajesh Kumar Tripathi said the drones are specifically used to identify behaviours that cause bottlenecks and accidents. The police are focusing on signal jumping, wrong-side driving and left turns obstructions, which are primary causes of congestion in the city, as well as illegal parking and vendors encroaching on main roads outside shops, along with crowd monitoring in markets to ensure smooth vehicular movement.
The ‘digital patrols' have been deployed over several high-traffic junctions and commercial zones, including Palasia square, Geeta Bhawan square, Indraprastha square, Industry House square, Anand Bazaar, Regal square and major market areas prone to congestion.While the primary focus is traffic management, DCP Tripathi highlighted that the drones are being also used for broader security purposes. After traffic hours, the drones are deployed to monitor ‘shadow areas' (poorly lit or isolated spots) and sensitive neighbourhoods to assist local police stations in crime prevention.The drone surveillance system operates through seamless coordination between air and ground units. The process is managed by two specialised teams. In the traffic police control room, the team monitors live, high-definition video feeds on large LED screens. These high-resolution cameras provide crystal-clear visuals of traffic flow and individual vehicle movements. Once a violation is spotted on the live feed, the control room immediately relays the vehicle details via wireless sets to officers stationed at the nearest intersection. The ground team then intercepts the vehicle to issue a spot fine. The high-tech surveillance is expected to improve response times during accidents and help the department manage heavy traffic jams more efficiently, even during night hours, ACP RK Singh said. "Drone patrolling was initiated to regulate traffic. Before this, we used this technology in crime prevention and crowd management many times in the last two months," he said, adding that traffic police are deployed at major squares to check violations and ease congestion.