Chennai: Vehicles of flying squads deployed at R.K. Nagar ahead of the byelection, are now monitored from a single window at the control room in Ripon Buildings.This tracking system helps proper watch of the constituency starting from the number of posters and banners erected in the area to unnecessary movement of cash inside the constituency, say officials of the corporation.
The initiative was taken to calculate the accurate expenditure incurred by candidates for the election, they add.
The new system, called ‘fleet management’, was introduced by Chennai corporation for the first time in the city in the last parliamentary elections in 2014, says an official from the technical department. He adds that the GPS in the vehicles is linked to the dashboard in the control room. Anybody who knows the login and password can view the screen, the official explains. Under this, the number of vehicles that are stationed and vehicles that are moving along can be seen along with the vehicle number.
“The red arrow in the R.K. Nagar mark are vehicles that are stationed and the green arrows that are vehicles that are in movement. The screen refreshes automatically every 200 seconds. Apart from this, we receive an alert if any vehicle is at one place for more than 15 minutes or if any vehicle diverts from its specified route,” explains a corporation staff who monitors the dashboard.
Other details, including the number of online complaints, is also linked to the dashboard, the staff adds.
As many as 28 vehicles have been deployed inside R.K. Nagar, in addition to the six vehicles that are moving around the border of the constituency and one vehicle to record the activities here including the number of posters, banners and canvassing by political leaders. Every vehicle consists of six persons – one sanitary inspector, one assistant engineer, two assistant executive engineers and two constables.
