Bengaluru civic body to deploy camera-mounted vehicles, AI to identify potholes

Bengaluru: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will deploy 15 vehicles equipped with AI cameras to assess the condition of arterial and sub-arterial roads in the city, including identifying potholes. 

The initiative appears to be inspired by the Electronics City Township Authority (ELCIA), which uses camera-mounted vehicles and artificial intelligence to address pothole issues in the tony tech hub in southern Bengaluru. 

Similar to Google Street View, these cameras will capture images of potholes and other obstacles, such as dysfunctional streetlights, debris, garbage and broken footpaths. 

"We have deployed 15 of our vehicles fitted with these cameras. They can travel at a speed of 5 km per hour. All 15 vehicles will cover 300 km daily, allowing us to survey about 1,400 km of roads in a week," BBMP’s Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath said on Monday. 

If the data from these vehicles proves valuable, the civic body plans to use them on other ward roads. The camera feeds data to a server, which BBMP engineers can access via mobile phones. 

Task force

On Monday, the BBMP also formed a seven-member zonal task force headed by zonal commissioners. This development follows Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s directive to create a special cell responsible for filling potholes immediately. Each task force includes BBMP engineers and a representative from the traffic police.

In an order, Girinath stated that the task force must meet every Monday and Thursday to review pothole-filling activities in its respective zone. The task force will have authority over fund allocation for road maintenance. 

There are also plans to approve tenders related to pothole-filling activities. This measure aims to ensure that the task force, responsible for addressing public and police complaints, has the financial independence to make quick decisions. 

The road network within BBMP limits spans 12,878 km, of which 1,344 km are arterial and sub-arterial roads. Major roads fall under the BBMP's road infrastructure division while the rest are managed by zonal chief engineers. 

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar is reportedly planning to launch a new app on June 6 to help citizens report potholes.