The Cameras Are Watching. Is the Administration Watching Itself? Technology Without Accountability Is Theatre
1,050 cameras. AI-driven enforcement. E-challans. And traffic signals that go dark after 8 PM
Srinagar is deploying 1,050 cameras, generating e-challans, and drawing roadmaps toward zero fatalities. Commendable on paper. But here is the question no meeting agenda dares carry: when traffic signals go dark after 8 PM and seasonal rain renders half the city's signal infrastructure non-functional, what exactly is the Intelligent Traffic Management System managing?
Eight hundred cameras are reportedly functioning. Automated enforcement eliminates human friction at traffic stops, the arguments, the discretion, the opacity. That is a measurable improvement deserving acknowledgement. So does the Divisional Commissioner's multi-disciplinary meeting, addressing parking issues, one-way corridors, and median crossings. But administrative breadth is not administrative depth.
Srinagar carries over five lakh registered vehicles on roads designed for a fraction of that number. Underage drivers, some involved in fatal accidents, still navigate these streets. AI identifies a helmetless rider. It cannot identify the parent who handed over the keys.
Before deploying machine learning to predict congestion, can the administration guarantee that Exchange Junction's signal functions through a February night? Every newly appointed official arrives with a transformative vision. The Darbar Move follows. The vision frequently departs with the official.
Accountability for contractors, municipalities, and the system that normalises the gap between directive and delivery must precede every algorithm.
The cameras are watching. The question is whether the administration is watching itself.
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