Mohali's Rs 77 crore AI traffic eyes

Mohali’s traffic cameras issued 5.78 lakh electronic challans in the first year of automated enforcement, turning road policing into a daily machine-led operation. (indianexpress.com) The system was launched on March 6, 2025, with an Integrated Command and Control Centre in Sector 79 linked to 351 high-resolution cameras at 17 junctions across the city. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said Phase I cost Rs 21.60 crore, while The Indian Express reported the wider project cost at Rs 77 crore. (theprint.in, indianexpress.com) Those cameras include 175 automatic number plate recognition units, 50 red-light violation cameras, 92 bullet cameras, 18 pan-tilt-zoom cameras and 16 speed-detection cameras at two locations. The system is linked to the National Informatics Centre’s Vahan and Sarathi databases so notices can be generated automatically. (theprint.in, tribuneindia.com) In plain terms, the software reads a vehicle number plate, matches it with registration records and sends a fine without a traffic officer stopping the driver. Mohali police say it flags red-light jumps, overspeeding, triple riding, wrong-side driving, helmetless riding and stop-line or zebra-crossing violations. (theprint.in, tribuneindia.com) The volume is large enough to change how enforcement works in the city. Officials said the network now produces about 5,000 to 6,000 challans a day, compared with 1,150 on the first day after launch. (tribuneindia.com, theprint.in, indianexpress.com) Mohali is also being used as a template for a wider rollout in Punjab. Mann said Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar were next, and the state was preparing a Phase II expansion to cover more locations in the Mohali district. (tribuneindia.com, theprint.in) The enforcement push arrives as Mohali grows as a residential, commercial and information technology hub on Chandigarh’s edge, with heavier traffic on corridors linking Kharar, Zirakpur and Dera Bassi. State officials said the next phase would add more surveillance points, adaptive traffic control systems and smart traffic lights. (theprint.in) The same system that catches violators also widens routine public surveillance, and that is where the debate sits. Officials frame it as faster enforcement and safer roads; critics cited by The Indian Express have raised questions about accuracy, due process and how long vehicle data and camera footage are stored. (indianexpress.com) For now, the cameras are no longer a pilot or a warning sign. In Mohali, they have become a standing part of traffic enforcement, issuing penalties at city scale every day. (indianexpress.com, tribuneindia.com)