Decks have been cleared for installation of a new traffic signal system in Hyderabad. The ambitious project named Hyderabad Traffic Integrated management System (HTRIMS) will be installed in the city within a year by the Bharath Electronics Limited (BEL).
The project is meant for upgradation of the signals at 180 junctions and another 41 new junctions will be brought under the project, the traffic police chief C.V. Anand told reporters. Nearly 50 junctions will be converted into the new system by September 30 in view of the United Nation’s COP – 11 Biodiversity meet slated to begin from October 1.
The HTRIMS project took off after the Hyderabad Traffic Police, BEL and the GHMC signing an agreement for execution of the Rs. 66.5 crore project here on Saturday. The agreement was signed by GHMC Commissioner M.T. Krishna Babu, Addl CP Mr. Anand and BEL Senior DGM D. Selvam.
Touted as the first of its kind, the project envisages imposition of stringent penalties if the agreement conditions are not met. “BEL will be penalised if it misses any deadline. The Service Level Agreement is linked with performance and payments to the company will be cut down if a signal fails to function for an hour during the whole year,” he explained.
To ensure uninterrupted power supply the signalling system will have three sources of power supply, commercial power supply, power through solar panels and battery backup.
Salient features
The signalling system will also have features like full connectivity with central command system, virtual loop cameras for adaptive traffic control and automatic signal timing adjustment.
“One of the main problems of the present signals is that they are not properly visible to the motorists.
The new signals will be put up at prominent places. Even the brightness of the signals will be automatically adjusted by the system,” Mr. Anand said.
Comprehensive study
The BEL Project Manager D. Ravi Kumar said that the company was emphasising on the stability of the project. “Traffic conditions in Hyderabad are different from Bangalore and we are doing a comprehensive study of the system. We will try to install 50 signals by September 30,” he said. The project is also so designed that the project can be expanded by including more junctions or services, he said. For the first time in India, the project is also being monitored by third party independent ‘Professional Management Unit (PMU), he said. Team from Administrative Staff College of India is the PMU for the project. City police Commissioner Anurag Sharma, Cyberabad Police Commissioner Dwarka Tirumala Rao were present during the function.
