DMP to install 200 more AI cameras in August

In a major move to strengthen traffic management in the capital, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has decided to start installing 200 more artificial intelligence (AI)-powered traffic cameras from the beginning of August, according to a DMP official.

According to sources at the DMP, the decision was finalised in a meeting held on Monday, where the DMP commissioner, Md Mosleh Uddin Ahmed, also directed traffic officials to adopt a stricter approach against lane violations.

Following the commissioner’s directives, the traffic police have already gone into hard-line enforcement against lane violations from Tuesday in an effort to ensure stricter compliance with traffic rules.

The AI-powered traffic cameras are designed to automatically detect five types of traffic offences: signal violation, stop-line violation, left-lane (open) violation, obstruction and lane violation.

Although lane violations had previously been enforced with some flexibility during the trial phase, the DMP has now decided to implement the rule more rigorously.

Speaking to the Daily Sun, Sharmin Afroj, senior system analyst at the DMP, said public compliance with traffic regulations has improved significantly since the introduction of AI-based monitoring.

“People have started following traffic rules much more carefully after the installation of AI cameras. We are becoming stricter every day and we hope to take Dhaka’s traffic management system to a much more advanced level very soon,” she said.

She said the DMP is currently conducting a pilot project with 46 AI cameras, which will be expanded substantially next month.

According to sources, the DMP also began installing 12 AI cameras on Tuesday along 300 Feet Road as part of another pilot project.

Confirming the development, Sharmin Afroj said the trial installation would help evaluate the system before a large-scale rollout in Purbachal and the 300 Feet Road corridor.

“Our long-term plan is to install around 1,500 to 2,000 cameras in Purbachal and along 300 Feet Road. The network will include AI cameras, facial recognition cameras, monitoring cameras, bullet CCTV cameras and infrared night vision cameras,” she added.

The latest initiative is part of the DMP’s broader plan to modernise traffic management through intelligent surveillance technology and stricter enforcement to improve road discipline across the capital.