• Gujarat Police to deploy AI-powered drones & CCTV for real-time crowd monitoring during Ahmedabad Rath Yatra.
• System will analyze density, predict surges & alert police to prevent stampede-like situations.
• Over 14 lakh expected; AI to help reroute crowds, deploy manpower & manage space along 16-km route.

The Gujarat police will use an Artificial Intelligence-based observation system with drones to avoid a stampede-like scenario when the main Rath Yatra procession will pass through the streets of Ahmedabad on June 27, an official said.

The development follows a huge turnout of worshippers is expected to take part in the event. Following recent cases involving mass gatherings, such as that at Bengaluru, the crime branch of Ahmedabad will use an AI-enabled visual analytics program, which will warn police beforehand about crowd density, Assistant Commissioner of Police Bharat Patel said.

Eleven people were killed and 56 hurt in a stampede on June 4 outside the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru, where a huge crowd had gathered to attend the RCB team's IPL triumph celebrations.

"Since stampedes have taken place in certain states, we have made a decision to employ an AI-based software to control and monitor the crowds at Rath Yatra through real-time processing of visual information", Patel explained to reporters.

Police say 14 to 15 lakh people are likely to throng the grand gathering on June 27. Under the AI system, visual analytics software in the police control room will be provided with live video streams from CCTV cameras and drones placed along the yatra route, Patel added.

He explained that the software has been designed to scan the live feed in order to make an approximation of the number of people at the specific location and how many more are likely to arrive in a short time.

"The software would tally heads, determine the maximum capacity of that area and notify police of impending surge at that location. This forewarning will notice the ground policemen to take urgent preventive measures, like barricading that area to prevent additional people from arriving and evacuating the area," he said.

The system will also provide data on empty space around occupied areas so police can reposition people to prevent stampedes.

"This system will assist us in timely response, relocate manpower where required and reroute traffic if required", said Patel. The AI-based system can determine the maximum capacity of a specific area, its current crowd density and expected inflow, he added.

This system is in the process of being tested with feeds from already installed cameras. The Rath Yatra procession, headed by chariots, will begin at approximately 7 am on June 27 from the 400-year-old Lord Jagannath temple in the Jamalpur locality.

It will go through different places in Old City, including communally sensitive, along the 16 km stretch before reaching the temple by 8 pm. The procession generally comprises 18 decorated elephants, 100 trucks and 30 aakhadas (local gymnasiums). Lakhs of persons line up on both sides of the route to get a glimpse of deities.

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