State transport dept readies command centre to track govt buses in real time
THE CENTRE HAS BEEN BUILT AT ISBT IN KASHMERE GATE AND WILL SOON BE INAUGURATED BY CM KEJRIWAL
NEW DELHI: The Delhi transport department has built a command-and-control centre in Kashmere Gate to track and monitor all Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster buses in real-time.
The centre has been built at the interstate bus terminal (ISBT) in Kashmere Gate and will soon be inaugurated by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, transport minister Kailash Gahlot said on Wednesday after he inspected the facility.
“Apart from the commandand-control centre (CCC) at Kashmere Gate, there is a disaster recovery centre, a data centre and separate viewing centres in all depots. The live footage can also be monitored by all depot managers. The CCC shall be manned 24 hours for realtime monitoring of all activities on buses,” Gahlot said.
Each bus is now fitted with three cameras, GPS devices, 10 panic buttons, one display panel for the driver, hooter, strobe lights and 2 sets of two-way audio communication devices, one each for the driver and conductor.
“All newly inducted buses and to-be inducted buses already have all these systems installed on them which will be integrated with the CCC at Kashmere Gate,” the minister said.
All depot managers, drivers, conductors and marshals on board buses have completed their training related to the operation of the installed systems.
Delhi currently has around 6,750 buses -- 3,760 DTC and 2,990 cluster buses-- as against the Supreme Court-mandated requirement of 11,000 buses.
In case of an emergency, a passenger or driver or conductor can press the panic button. The alert will automatically be sent to the CCC at Kashmere Gate in real-time. The operator at the CCC will filter the alerts and forward the alert to the respective stakeholder such as police, fire and ambulance for a quick response with the GPS coordinates of the bus. An SMS and an email alert will also be sent to the authorities concerned in synchronization with these panic alerts, the government said in a statement.
“The objective of the project is to ensure the safety and security of passengers, especially women passengers through Ip-based CCTV surveillance cameras, panic button and GPS on the buses of DTC and those under the cluster scheme. After the inspection, I also held a meeting with transport officials to discuss issues related to the functioning of the CCC. I have instructed officials to submit a daily report about data monitoring and operation,” Gahlot said.