Ahmedabad: A few days ago, Ahmedabad Police announced that it had deployed AI-based technology to manage crowds during large public events. Today, the effectiveness of that system was clearly visible during the Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath, sister Subhadra, and brother Balram.

The AI-powered crowd monitoring system of the police played a key role in maintaining public safety during the Rath Yatra being carried out in the old city area. Using real-time surveillance through CCTV cameras, the system continuously scanned and interpreted visual data to estimate crowd density. It applied pixel-based analysis and advanced object detection models like Mask R-CNN to accurately count individuals in specific areas.

When crowd density exceeded pre-set thresholds, the system automatically triggered alerts to control rooms, which then sent the alerts to the ground force. The system also detected anomalies such as sudden movement surges, irregular clustering, fallen individuals, or aggressive behavior—helping prevent potential stampedes. Alerts were sent via integrated channels, including LCD displays and GSM messages. The system also employed predictive analytics and reinforcement learning, enabling it to forecast crowd behavior and suggest evacuation routes or alternate flow paths based on past data—marking a major step forward in proactive crowd management.

City Police Commissioner G.S. Malik visited the command and control room during the 148th Rath Yatra. Speaking to the media, he said, “The Rath Yatra started this morning at 7 am. I was monitoring the AI system in the control room, which is receiving feeds from drones and static CCTV cameras. Alerts are being generated based on headcounts and passed on as necessary.”

This technology also proved to be efficient during the incident where elephants went out of control in Khadia. Had there been a large crowd nearby, the situation could have turned tragic. Thanks to the timely intervention made possible by this advanced system, no major accident occurred—only a few minor injuries were reported.

This suggests that the adoption of anti-stampede visual analytics marks a significant advancement in public safety and proactive crowd management. DeshGujarat