Kolkata: 75 locations to get high-end cameras that can read car number plates

KOLKATA: With CCTV cameras in several places still not functional more than 38 days after the Cyclone Amphan had lashed the city, Kolkata Police sought to replace some of them with high-end cameras that can also read the number plates of vehicles even at night.

These cameras will be installed at 75 different locations across the city, with special emphasis being put on the areas between Esplanade and EM Bypass via Park Circus.Cops have already floated tenders while the bidders are likely to place their initial bids by the end of this month.
Among the 75 proposed places for installation of the automatic number plate recognition system (ANPR) cameras include Esplanade crossing, Tea Board crossing, Hare Street and Strand Road crossing, Shyambazar 5-point crossing, Howrah Bridge, College Street-MG Road crossing, Moulali-Lenin Sarani crossing, Little Russel Street-Middleton Street crossing, SN Banerjee-Rafi Ahmed kidwai Road crossing, AJC Bose Road-Camac Street crossing, Western slope of Maa flyover, James Long Sarani and Ashoka Cinema Hall-DH Road crossing.
According to the tender document, the ANPR system will have high speed cameras. They will work throughout the day and capture the number plates of vehicles. “The strategic intent of the ANPR system is to target criminals through their use of the roads. It serves four purposes — increase public confidence, increase the number of detected offences (both criminal and traffic-related), reduce the occurrence of incidents as well as the number of road traffic casualties, said an officer. The ANPR server will be capable of detecting a vehicle’s type and colour, recognising its license plate and detecting the bikers without helmets. It will give 85% accuracy in the day and 65% at night, said police sources.
The system will also allow cops to create a special list of offenders whose numbers will send warnings to the control room if detected roaming on the road. “The system will have an option to register certain license plates according to the listed categories like wanted, suspicious and stolen. The system can generate automatic alarms to alert the control room personnel for further action,” said an officer at Lalbazar.
ANPR is a technology that uses optical character recognition on images to read vehicle registration plates to create vehicle location data. Ever since the cameras were activated on Maa flyover, AJC Bose flyover, Kidderpore Road, BT Road and some parts of EM Bypass, they have recorded motorists clocking 130kmph-150kmph, especially past midnight. The speed limit set on the stretches is 50kmph-60kmph. “The speed, at which some motorists are driving, is alarming. If a motorist collides with another car or hits the median divider or railings, the chance for survival of those inside the vehicle is negligible,” said a senior traffic officer at Lalbazar. “Based on the readings, we have started imposing fines. Along with the readings, we also have photographs of cars at exact points of rule violation,” the officer added.