The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has started securing the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) and the Delhi Meerut Expressway (DME) with the installation of high-resolution cameras. These will help in incident detection, check speeding and general surveillance, said officials.
The 135-km EPE inaugurated in 2018 connects Kundli to Palwal, both in Haryana, while passing through Baghpat, Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar districts in Uttar Pradesh. The 60-km DME connects Akshardham in Delhi to Meerut in western UP.
“About 133 such cameras will be installed on the EPE by March next year, each one kilometre apart and alternatively one either side of the expressway. They will be able to rotate and view upto 500 metres on either side.,” said Mudit Garg, project director, NHAI.
The live feed will be routed to a control room, still under construction, at Dasna interchange. Eighty sub-control rooms along the EPE will be responsible for the general maintenance of the cameras and serve as a backup too.
The speed limit on the EPE are 120kmph for cars/jeep and 100kmph for commercial vehicles.
{{/usCountry}}The speed limit on the EPE are 120kmph for cars/jeep and 100kmph for commercial vehicles.
{{/usCountry}}According to records, there were about 271 accidents on the EPE since May, 2018 to August this year. Last week, HT reported that the NHAI had begun installing barriers and boards to check trespasses into the EPE by people living in the vicinity.
“The cameras will detect all such instances. At the main control room, our staff will be monitoring movement of vehicles and instances of speeding. When the cameras detect a speeding case, the control room will be alerted, the vehicle identified and information shared with the local traffic police. Likewise, in case of an accident, help will be rushed to the spot. A similar setup is underway at the DME where three sub-control rooms will be connected to the main control room at Dasna,” Garg said.
The 14-lane DME project, having six dedicated expressway lanes, is divided into four phases with 8.4-km phase 1 (Akshardham in Delhi to UP-Gate) and 22.3-km phase 3 (Dasna to Hapur) already operational and is expected to have 78 cameras. While phase 1 has 13 cameras installed, phase 20 have phase 3.
Once completed, 19.3-km phase 2 (UP Gate to Dasna) will have 15 cameras and 31.8-km phase 4 (Dasna to Meerut) will have 30 cameras. Both phases are scheduled to be completed by December this year and are expected to have the cameras installed by then too.
The installation protocols and camera specifications will be similar to the ones at the EPE. Of the three sub control rooms, one at the CWG flyover near Akshardham and another at Chijarsi (at the Pilkhuwa flyover in Hapur) are already operational.
The NHAI last week proposed to the Union ministry for road transport and highways the speed limit for the DME be increased to 120kmph for cars/jeeps and 100kmph for commercial vehicles.
Box: surveillance camera installation
Eastern Peripheral Expressway: 133 rotating cameras by March, 2021
Delhi Meerut Expressway: 78 cameras by December 2020
All cameras will be installed at a distance of a kilometre from each other and will be connected to the main control room at Dasna
The EPE will have 80 sub control rooms, while DME will have three. All will be connected to the main control room at Dasna
The entire setup of cameras, sub control rooms and main control room will help in general surveillance, detection of speeding and incidents