January 12: Hit-and-run cases have become a frequent headache for the traffic police in Nepal. This is also because of the negligible use of technology to monitor traffic on the roads and highways throughout the country, including in the Kathmandu Valley.    
Realising this, the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, with support from the Kathmandu Metropolitan City, has introduced a new technology in the Valley that allows the police to monitor the vehicles plying in the roads in the Valley.    
The Valley Traffic Police Office has started using high-tech cameras called 'automatic number plate recognition camera (ANPRC)' that can read the vehicle number plate and the drivers' activities behind the wheel. Police believe that this technology will mainly help them monitor the drivers' activities.     
The use of these advanced cameras will help the traffic police find out whether the person driving the vehicle has fastened seat belt or not, or is smoking, or talking on his/her mobile phone.    
Senior Superintendent of Police Dinesh Raj Mainali, the spokesperson for the Kathmandu Valley Police Office, said this technology will provide immense help in traffic policing as these devices read the number plate of vehicle, capture photos of the activities up to the driver's seat and send the information to the server.    
"For instance, when a vehicle is involved in a hit-and-run incident and we only know the colour of that vehicle and not its number plate, the cameras installed overhead the road read the number plate of the vehicles passing by that road and send information to the server. By scrutinizing the information in the server, we can know the number plate of all vehicles of that colour passing through the road. In this way, we can track the vehicle owner by coordinating with the Department of Transport Management," he explained.    
This ANPR camera will contribute to providing fact-based information surrounding the incident. When verbal statements may be unreliable, technology and evidences will provide the facts, according to SSP Mainali.    
Currently, ANPR cameras have been placed in Munibhairabh, New Bus Park, and Maharajgunj areas. These advanced cameras boast the capability to accurately read number plates in the Nepali script and embossed formats, capturing and transmitting details promptly to the Kathmandu Valley's police control room. Munibhairav has four cameras, Maharajgunj has four, and the bus park area has two.    
The police expect these cameras will significantly help in identifying details in 'hit and run' cases, where traditional investigations are often marred by challenges in identifying drivers and vehicles involved.    
The Kathmandu Metropolis has supported the installations of such cameras. The Kathmandu Valley Police realizes the need to expand the system to other areas as well.    
Other local governments have also assured to support the Valley Police to fix such cameras.

It plans to install them along the transit points to the Kathmandu within the current fiscal year. Such cameras remain functional during nights as well.    
The authorities are planning to fix 170 cameras in the Valley including face recognition cameras in 10 locations, ANPR cameras in 10 locations and AI technology- based camera at 150 locations. The Valley Police is getting technical assistance from the Synergy IT Solutions to implement this technology. -- RSS