The-NHAI-Introduces-a-New-Surveillance-System-for-Highways.pdf

1. The NHAI Introduces a New Surveillance System for Highways The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) introduced a new surveillance system for national highways in the country, taking a cue from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). The NHAI’s new surveillance system is a part of its Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS), which also is known as Traffic Incident Emergency Management System (TIMS). The Centre’s autonomous highways agency is planning to make the new system functional at 10 major Toll gates in the country by 2018. Later, the National Highways Authority of India will expand it to 200 Toll plazas. The MoRTH and NHAI propose that the new surveillance system will enhance security and traffic infrastructure at Toll gates. The autonomous agency is planning to execute the initial phase of the project in 6 months from the time of initiation. Equipped with the latest technology, such as low-latency Internet Protocol (IP) cameras and advanced imaging systems, the new surveillance system will transmit real-time information on the flow of traffic to a command centre by the means of secure local Internet connections. The data retrieved from the system will be sent to regional and NHAI command centres. Further, experts will analyse the data, look into the depth of the damage, and dispatch the necessary measures to mitigate the incident. For every half-an-hour, the IP cameras of the surveillance system will capture time-stamped photographs and send them to the command centres. Further, if the flux of the traffic crosses a mandated limit, the system will notify the NHAI and RO administrators by live streaming the incident. When the congestion of traffic increases, the system will automatically convert the camera mode to video mode. With the new surveillance system, the NHAI and road authorities can monitor and track highways and their Toll gates. Also, the system will work round the clock. The integration of modern technology enables the system to be active day and night and give real-time information. If the traffic doesn't decongest in 30 minutes, the system will notify the RO and NHAI command centres by sending distress signals. The officials, on receiving the alerts, can analyse the information and dispatch necessary measures to bring the situation back to normal. NHAI’s new surveillance system will give real-time data on the entire stretch of the highways, and Toll gates. The surveillance system is equipped with high-speed Internet connectivity that eases the transmission of information between the system and command centres. The new surveillance system enables the Incident Management System (IMS) in digitalising the highway sector - a key motive of the government's Digital India drive. The high-resolution cameras, high-quality sensors, and flexible database give necessary data to enhance the flow of traffic on highways in the country. The IMS-based surveillance system gathers data on road incidents from sensors, and sends the data to command stations to retrieve the suitable facility to the incident place to contain the disaster. These emergency facilities can be ambulances, cranes, tow-away vehicles, and others. The new surveillance system provides IMS facilities such as real-time traffic monitoring, traffic signal monitoring and control, traffic camera monitoring and control, road weather information system, and other information. Enabling IMS, the new surveillance system will improve the nodal networks in the country. #TollPaymentSystem #ElectronicTollCollectionIndia #MinistryofRoadTransport