Wisdom of the Ancients

Hindustan Times ( 05 Oct 2016 ) carried two news reports with following titles :

*   Buy noise meters in 10 days or face contempt : HC

*   Traffic offenders will now receive e-challan via SMS

Apparently , way back in Jan 2016 , High Court had asked the Maharashtra Government to buy 1843 Decibel Meters , with which to catch the noise-makers ( public loud speakers raining music on peaceful neighbourhoods )

These noise meters were to become operational by 15 Oct 2016 , but nowhere in sight ! So , HC is annoyed !

The second news pertains to the Mumbai Traffic Police having installed some 4717 CCTV cameras to catch the traffic violations by car drivers and send to them ( within 5 minutes ) , e-Challan via SMS on their mobiles , employing an innovative integration of technologies comprising , CCTV / Image Recognition / Database Search of Vehicle Number and Driver License Number / Geo-tagging / Time stamping / Smart phones / Web sites / Online payment thru Credit Cards etc

With this automated technology driven process of " Catching Traffic Violations " , Mumbai police expects to be able to issue 10,000 e-Challans SMS , DAILY  !

A very credit-worthy initiative worth Congratulations !

But how will Traffic Police ( or any other Agency ) , catch violations of :

#   Vehicles emitting polluting gases , in excess of BHARAT 4 , emission control limits ?

#   Vehicles honking ( noise pollution ) to nudge the car in front to get going ?

Of course , it is possible to cover EVERY km of EVERY road ( and inter-city highways ), in EVERY city , with devices to capture these violations and , like those CCTV cameras , to relay such violations to some CENTRAL CONTROL ROOM

Except that those MILLIONS of Emission Control Devices / Decibel Meters , fixed on the footpaths or on lighting poles along millions of kilometers of roads, cannot tell the Agency , WHICH vehicle had committed that violation ! Unlike those CCTV cameras which capture the license plate number !

This reminds me of an ancient tale

A Raja was very upset that every time he came out of his palace and walked barefoot on the streets of his kingdom , his feet got covered by dust and grime

In frustration, he ordered his Vazir , to line all the roads and streets and farms with leather, to cover up the dust

Now , the Vazir just could not find enough leather to cover up the entire kingdom - and was at a total loss

This is when a old wise man suggested :

" Instead of trying to cover up the entire earth with leather , why not just cover up your feet with leather , whenever you step out ? "

This is how shoes got invented !

So , I ask :

"  Why not our Scientists / Technocrats / Inventors , come up with a small , vehicle mounted device that will measure all types of traffic ( or rather , Vehicular ) violations , including going thru a red-light  / wrongly overtaking a car in front / wrong parking / belching smoke / honking etc - and relay these violations to the Central Control Room , with full details of the Vehicle and the Driver and the Place and the Time and the Type of violation ?

And relay all of this to a Single Agency

Surely , this would be better than installing - and maintaining - those millions of roadside devices !

And mandate vehicle manufacturers to install this device in all vehicles ?

At pre-determined accumulation of offenses , this device would automatically ,

*    Alert the nearest traffic police to cease the vehicle and pull it out of the traffic

*    Cancel the offending drivers driving license ( or suspend it )

*    Cancel the Car Registration

Simultaneously , sending out emails / SMS to RTOs / Police Control Centers , all over India

Considering that Driving Licenses and Car Registrations can , now be digitized and uploaded on your Smart phone , this is entirely possible !

In an age where Google has invented Eye Contact Lenses which can measure the sugar level in your blood and alert your doctor on his Smart phone, let no one say, my suggested device can be found only in Star Track !

I hope Shri Nitin Gadkariji , will take a notice !

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06  Oct  2016

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs