By S. Raza Hassan
KARACHI, Jan 17: The Sindh government has formed a committee to evaluate the implementation of the vehicle identification monitoring system (VIMS) and furnish the government with its comments.
Comprising representatives of the home department, the police, excise and finance departments as well as the Citizens Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), the committee has been charged with weighing the pros and cons of the estimated Rs550 million project.
The National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) has already decided in principle to go ahead with implementing VIMS. However, many others see the proposed system as another example of experimenting with technology in order to compensate for the inefficiencies of the law enforcement agencies at the expense of tax payers. Stakeholders such as the police department and the CPLC are sceptical about the utility and effectiveness of the system in controlling crime. The attempt to have the proposal approved during the tenure of a caretaker government is also being viewed with suspicion by the critics of the monitoring system.
‘System easily dodged’
The vehicle identification monitoring system is envisioned as one where each vehicle bears a smart identification module (SIM), which can be ‘read’ by specially built gates that would be installed at 50 locations across the city, including the four entry/exit points.
The SIM installation would be initially voluntary but be made mandatory at a later stage.
Each purpose-designed RCC gate will cost an estimated Rs1 million, and require an uninterrupted power supply since it would have to be operation round that clock.
However, critics argue that a professional car thief would simply bypass the gate by using an irregular or unusual route. They point out that if cars are transported in containers, such gates would simply be a waste of resources, and argue that another method of dodging detection would be to replace the stolen car’s SIM-bearing windscreen with that of another vehicle. Some fear that since the system would be meant primarily for Karachi, vehicles from other cities would face problems at the gates. They argue that the system would nevertheless ultimately depend on a special police force to man each gate and engage with any suspect vehicle.
The critics say that instead of this costly system, investments should be made in the police force and the police helpline 15 should be improved further. They suggest that along the pattern of London, closed-circuit cameras (CCTV) should be installed across the city which would help control street crime as well as auto theft.
Furthermore, they point out, the price of satellite tracking systems, or trackers, should be reduced so that they can become affordable for all citizens purchasing cars.
Expensive technology
VIM’s operation is based on a radio frequency identification (RFID) system. A SIM containing details such as tax payments, would be pasted to the windscreen of every vehicle. It is yet o be decided where the SIM will be placed on motorcycles, for which the incident of theft and snatching has gone up by over 40 per cent, sources pointed out.
The SIM has been designed so that that it will be wasted if any attempt is made to replace it.
Meanwhile, purpose-designed gates, each equipped with sensors and cameras, would be installed across the city.
For uninterrupted power supply, Nadra envisions the use of generators and has also floated the idea of using solar panels to generate power.
Worldwide, this system is used primarily to monitor advance toll tax payments made by the owners of vehicles which pass through toll barriers frequently. Traffic is also managed through VIMS.