Smart Surveillance Vans to Control Road Traffic in Kathmandu

Kathmandu now has smart surveillance vans to control road traffic, courtesy of the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTPD).

MTPD was given two traffic police surveillance vehicles by the Kathmandu Sustainable Urban Transport Project in function. The formal function was held on July 23 to mark the fifth anniversary of Metro Traffic FM 95.6 MHz.

The surveillance vans have four roofs mounted 360-degree fish-eye CCTV speed cameras. These cameras can capture live video from a distance of up to 1.5 km. It also has a breath analyzer to test driving under influence. The vans have eight cozy seats, a 32-inch LED screen and are equipped with first-aid kits and portable road dividers.

These interceptor vehicles are much needed for the MTPD to keep the traffic in check. The Himalayan Times reports that as many as 182 persons were killed in road accidents in the Valley in the fiscal 2016-17 compared to 166 in the previous fiscal.

The MTPD had also booked as many as 639,611 vehicles for violating traffic rules in 2016-17 compared to 548,470 in 2015-16. 31,533 vehicles faced legal action for violating lane discipline whereas 29,080 vehicles were fined for haphazard parking in 2016-17.