Unmanned devices deployed to monitor Mumbai-Pune highway
A swarm of five drones kept a watch on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway over the weekend, alerting their human counterparts in uniform about motorists who were speeding, cutting lanes or committing other infractions of road-safety rules.
Fifteen drivers, most of them truckers, were flagged down, booked and fined on a 16-km section of the expressway after live drone footage showed them disregarding the law.
This is perhaps the first in the country that pilotless aircraft were used to monitor highway traffic and catch offenders. The experiment marks the beginning of what is likely to be greater use of technology to improve safety on the expressway, where a series of fatal accidents have taken place.
According to data shared by the highway police, 14,500 accidents on the 94.5-km stretch, which is used by 40,000 motorists every day, have claimed 1,400 lives since 2002.
Seventeen people, including an eight-month-old child, were killed and over 30 injured on June 5 when a luxury bus slammed into two cars and plunged 15 feet into a ditch.
Pune-based Aerial Mappers India Ltd fired up five drones for surveillance on the expressway’s ghat section after a request by the state government.
They captured footage of errant drivers during a two-hour period, from 2 pm to 4 pm, on Saturday and Sunday.
“Each drone was operated by a pilot, a co-pilot, a technician and one policeman,” said Aditya Hingane of Aerial Mappers. He, too, flew one of the drones.
“This is the first time we have used drones to monitor highway traffic. The operation covered the stretch between the Lonavala exit and Khalapur toll plaza,” said Amol Tambe, superintendent of police (highways), Pune.
“The errant drivers were stopped at Urse and Khalapur toll booths. At first, they refused to admit that they had violated traffic rules. We then showed photographs captured by the drones.”
The drones are armed with night vision cameras and are capable of sending live feed of traffic on a 1-km stretch to the base station.
“If someone cuts lanes, cameras immediately zoom in on the vehicle and take pictures of the registration plate. The information is relayed to the nearest toll plaza. There, the driver is handed the photographic evidence and a ticket,” Hingane said. Deepak Kesarkar, minister of state for home (urban), said a report on the experiment would be studied to improve detection.
“Road accidents have increased because indiscipline and rash driving. We don’t have enough police personnel and in such circumstances, drones can prove very handy,” he said.
