As a part of the Smart City project, in mid-March intelligent traffic management system (ITMS) cameras were installed at Merces junction at a cost of Rs 40 lakh. It was announced that 15 more were planned to be set up in other areas of Goa. In the ongoing Assembly the Minister for Urban Development gave a written reply that in 43 days the system has captured 11,000 violations and challans worth Rs 92.47 lakh were issued and nearly Rs17 lakh were recovered. It was also stated that there is no proposal to have ITMS in other municipal councils.
Going by the latest statement, it appears that the earlier proclaimed 15 ITMS have been put in cold freezer for some reasons. It would be prudent to install the assured ITMS to help reduce vehicle congestion, streamline the traffic and rake in money through challans. More than increasing the number of ITMS, it is vital to place them at critical spots that are accident prone and where reckless driving occurs.
If the authorities had installed an ITMS or even a regular CCTV at the bottle-neck Banastarim bridge, the recent dastardly accident could have been either avoided or captured so that the controversy of who was the driver of the ill-fated car could have been set to rest. The other crucial area is the coconut grove stretch along the Parra road where tourists indulge in photographic and other sessions and obstruct the traffic and pedestrians. There should be a white paper on the number, locations, status (working/non-working) and action taken reports about the existing traffic signals.
