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Journalism of Courage
AHMEDABAD, December 8: Are you among those harassed by policemen while motoring to a neighbouring State? Take heart. All 10 checkposts on roads connecting Gujarat to Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra will be computerised by March 31.
8220;Gujarat will be the first State not only in India but in Asia where all traffic exit and entry points are computerised by March 31,8221; Transport Commissioner P Pannirvel told The Indian Express. Work is on under a Rs 18.58 crore automation project.
Policemen will no longer be stationed at these points 8212; computer operators will. Defaulters or others trying to flee will be checked by a barrier 8212; and a tyre-shreeder. As soon as a vehicle touches a barrier, steel shredders embedded below the road surface will rise and rip through tyres at one go. 8220;The shredder system is adapted from one designed at the Pentagon,8221; said Pannirvel.
He also said once computerised checkposts come into operation, the problem of harassment will come to an end. The unique feature ofthe system, which makes it totally 8220;corruption-free8221;, is pre-paid cards. 8220;Erring vehicle drivers will push their pre-paid cards into a computerised machine which will download the amount as penalty8221;, Pannirvell said, adding, 8220;There will be no cash payment. We will make it mandatory for all transporters to keep pre-paid cards.8221;
He said the computerised checkposts would be linked with the Central Monitoring and Database Management System to be set up at the Sabarmati RTO office premises in Ahmedabad. 8220;It is from there that my staff and I will monitor traffic operations8221;, Pannirvel said. He expects the department8217;s income to double from the existing Rs 500 crore.
