The State’s first thermal and optical imaging camera with Artificial Intelligence-powered face detection technology has been temporarily installed at T-2 (terminal-2) of the Thiruvananthapuram international airport to screen the Non-Resident Keralites (NoRKS) arriving from West Asia and other countries for fever.
The camera will be first used for screening the passengers who will arrive by the IX 374 from Doha at 10.45 p.m. on May 10.
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A technician of the Amsterdam-based firm that supplied the gadget and a qualified doctor will be behind the camera to monitor the temperature. Four health desks are placed behind the camera for completing other formalities. As per the standard operating procedure, only 20 flyers will be allowed to leave at a time from the airport to the terminal to ensure social distancing. Those showing high temperatures can be scanned at a safe distance using the camera and the potentially sick can be identified easily. After completing the formalities and health screening only will the flyers be allowed to move to the second floor where the immigration wing functions.
Procured using the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) funds of Shashi Tharoor, MP, the ₹7.45 -lakh camera was first used for scanning migrants at the Thiruvananthapruam Central railway station before they were allowed to board the Shramik Special to Jharkhand.
District Collector K. Gopalakrishnan, accompanied by Airport Director C.V. Ravindran, inspected the facilities at T-2 and the working of the camera on Thursday.
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As the airport will have to check the temperature of the flyers arriving even after the repatriation flights, the AAI has decided to install four thermal optical imaging cameras, two each, at T-1 and T-2. “The funds had been made available under the corporate social responsibility of the Airports Authority of India,” Mr. Ravindran said.