SRINAGAR: The Srinagar administration has installed geo-tracking units on the entire fleet of 25 snow removal vehicles of the Mechanical Engineering Department dedicated for clearing snow from main roads of Srinagar.
Geo-tracking units – also called as trackers – are a navigation device that uses the GPS (Global Positioning System) to determine the movement and geographic position of a vehicle it is fitted onto.
Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary said the idea is to enable real-time monitoring of snow clearance the aim being to make the response mechanism during or following snowfall more efficient.
It is also to know for sure that the locations where snow clearance is required at a particular time are attended to as such.
The trial run of a tracker fitted onto one vehicle was held last night during the MED’s overnight snow clearance operation in which the accumulated snow on roadsides was lifted from major roads across Srinagar in an effort to widen them to enable smoother movement of traffic.
Meanwhile, the Srinagar administration has said that the snow removal vehicles of the Public Works Department are also being fitted with geo-tracking units. There is also a project under the Srinagar Smart City Project under which the waste collection vehicles will be fitted with these devices — the aim being to make the important waste collection service more efficient through real-time tracking and monitoring thereof.
Tracking live location of vehicles involved in important operations of snow clearance and waste collection will enable senior officers and concerned departments to have correct knowledge of the status thereof. It is therefore expected to make the system and service improved and more efficient.
