Innovative technology aids to safeguard Medaram fair
For the first time in the country, crowd counting and vehicle counting cameras will be used by the Jayashankar Bhupalapalli police during the biennial Sammakka-Saralamma
Jatara to be held from January 31 to February 3 at Medaram.
Superintendent of Police R. Bhaskaran said they are using the best available technology for the Jatara which will be attended by an expected one crore people.
These technologically advanced cameras will monitor areas where larger crowds gather, such as the altars and queues near Jampanna Vagu.
The cameras will not only do the work of surveillance but will also detect crowd density, an important aspect of crowd control and safety.
“Once the camera detects a rapid increase in the density, it raises an alarm in the control room to alert officers. This will help reduce our response time,” said Mr Bhaskaran.
The vehicle counting cameras work in the same way. “The lane monitoring cameras detect the direction of the queue and if there is any group walking in the opposite direction, it will alert the control room. In this way we will ensure that devotees have a hasslefree darshan. The camera surveillance will begin on January 25.”
Some 10,000 police personnel will be on duty during the Jatara, their positions monitored through the GPS in their phones.
Yet another tech innovation is an android application for the benefit of devotees.
The app allows the user to get information on entrance and exit routes, parking places, which parking location in full or has a vacancy etc.
Eleven holding points from Guddeppad to Medaram have been created to divert vehicles in case of a traffic jam.