But things have changed for the better. Two months back, he was deputed to the Traffic Management Centre (TMC) - the technology nerve centre of Bangalore traffic police - to join a small team of policemen remotely managing the city's traffic.
"We remotely monitor nearly 120 cameras put up at different junctions. When we see a violation at a signal, we zoom into the vehicle, capture images of its number plate and slap a fine on the registered owner of the vehicle," explains Basanna. The record of the offence is stored in a central database maintained by the police and an owner who has been fined can check about his offence on the traffic website and pay the fine at a citizen service centre, online or at one of the designated police stations.
Vehicle owners can check pending fines on their vehicle by messaging a given number besides getting traffic updates on their mobile phones. Besides cameras at junctions, there are enforcement cameras at five locations across the city. If a vehicle is seen speeding, its picture is taken and a fine is sent to the owners registered address.
Technology support is not restricted to the management centre alone. Policemen on the ground are also equipped with BlackBerry phones and bluetooth printers - which are also linked to a central base. When a policeman observes a violation, he stops the vehicle, keys in the number and records the offence through the phone and checks for earlier violations. Violators can pay a fine on the spot or later while the policeman can print a receipt and hand it over immediately.
Besides making use of technology for better compliance, the police draw heavily on tech to manage traffic better.
Based on video analytics and tech-based surveys, the police has prepared a database which forms the basis of how long the green light will be switched on at each signal. Signals are connected to the TMC and monitored using a software. If a policeman at TMC observes congestion at a signal, he can change the green timings accordingly and manage traffic better.
Nearly four years ago, when angalore traffic police introduced BlackBerry phones to improve enforcement, people had their share of doubts. Will they be able to handle technology? Is it another publicity stunt? Proving the critics wrong, the department has improved enforcement and management of bustling Bangalore traffic by making technological interventions.
Despite growing number of vehicles, increasing construction work and addition of new areas within its jurisdiction, technology has helped in bringing down the number of accidents, improving compliance and managing traffic better. In 2007, before any of this technology was in place, the city's police had booked nearly 1.4 million cases of traffic offence, which had risen to 3.3 million in 2010.
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