PANAJI
Even as AI-powered traffic surveillance cameras have begun issuing challans, the State government on Tuesday insisted that enforcement is still being carried out with restraint.
Admitting to adopting a lenient approach, Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho said the AI camera system was yet to be rolled out in its entirety and motorists were being given time to adjust before full-scale enforcement.
“Even now the implementation of AI cameras is a sort of trial. It is not 100 percent. We have remained lenient... Let people get used to it... They are our people and we have to understand their sentiments... They have to save their lives and that of others,” Godinho said, replying to media queries.
The minister further said the gradual enforcement was already changing driving behaviour, claiming traffic violations detected by the AI system had reduced significantly.
“There was a time, during the trial period (in June) when thousands of violations were being recorded. Now it has come down to a few hundred, which means people are following the rules,” he said as he urged reducing speeding riding/driving.
Warning against attempts to evade the surveillance system, Godinho said vehicles without valid registration or those found with removed or concealed number plates would face strict action. He added that 29 more AI camera locations would be added to the existing 26 cameras installed under Phase-1, extending the surveillance network across Goa by next year.
"Such vehicles will be taken into custody. Once the next phase is completed, AI camera coverage will be available across the State," he said.
Godinho said compliance was also visible in other areas, with motorists flocking to obtain mandatory documents. “There is a queue for PUC certificates. Insurance companies are also saying people are taking third-party insurance. We want people to follow the rules; we have no intention of imposing fines," he said, maintaining that the government's objective was voluntary compliance rather than collecting penalties.
On the long-pending double-tracking issue, Godinho said the matter had remained unresolved for years because of repeated back-and-forth, but maintained that the government had refrained from taking a hard line in view of public concerns.
“No injustice is being done to the people. We have remained soft because people’s concerns must always be taken into consideration,” he said.
