Explained: How AI Is Helping In Maintaining Security For Ram Mandir Inauguration on January 22?

With religious fervor abounding, Ayodhya is preparing for the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of the Ram Mandir on January 22. The grand temple's opening is anticipated to draw thousands, including saints and VVIPs.

No stone is being left unturned by the Uttar Pradesh government to secure the temple town for the ceremony. The city is already populated with anti-terrorism squad commandos and parked bulletproof vehicles.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is also being employed to bolster security and ensure the safety of VIPs, pilgrims, and tourists visiting Ayodhya. Lets understand the role of AI in enhancing security in Ayodhya and its deployment for the Ram temple inauguration.

How Ayodhya will be kept safe by AI:

In Ayodhya, AI surveillance has been implemented to address suspicious activities and trace miscreants. Aerial surveillance across the city is being conducted by drones powered by AI technology, while AI-based anti-mine drones are being utilized to scan underground mines or explosives, as reported by News18.

In addition to drones, the safety of the temple town will also be supported by AI-integrated cameras. It was announced on Monday (15 January) by the Gurgaon-based artificial intelligence startup Staqu Technologies that real-time security surveillance in Ayodhya will be provided through its AI-driven audio and video analytics platform Jarvis.

The event will be monitored for threats and suspicious activities by the software, utilizing tools such as facial recognition and number plate recognition, with real-time alerts being provided to authorities.

Ahead of the Ram temple opening on 22 January, security in Ayodhya has been bolstered. Atul Rai, co-founder and chief executive officer of Staqu Technologies, reported by Business Standard, stated, "Staqu's AI-powered Jarvis platform will monitor the event for threats and suspicious activities, providing real-time alerts to the authorities using already installed cameras."

Reverse facial recognition will be utilized by the AI software to identify objects and individuals based on general inputs and movements. Atul Rai informed Mint, "A particular person across the city can be searched using a photograph through reverse facial recognition. The software would also enable them to search for a person or an object based on attributes entered in text form."

Jarvis has been installed in the existing CCTVs in Ayodhya. Popular hotspots, including Kanak Bhawan, Hanuman Garhi, Shri Nageshwar Nath Mandir, Ram Ki Paidi, and Ram Janmabhoomi, are covered by these cameras, as reported by PTI news agency.

Access to a database of 8,00,000 criminals is provided to these cameras through Staqu's Trinetra software, facilitating the digitization of criminal records by the UP police department, according to the news agency. A press release from the company stated, "This database assists Ayodhya in identifying any suspicious faces among the registered criminals with an accuracy rate of 99.7 per cent."

"The Jarvis platform empowers surveillance cameras to perform attribute-based searches, identifying individuals from a crowd based on specific attributes such as clothing, color, accessories, or accompanying children, etc.," added the press release.

According to the company, the software is also capable of conducting footfall analysis and detecting incidents of violence at the grand event, as reported by Business Standard.

Further, it was conveyed by Rai that AI surveillance in Ayodhya is currently undergoing a one-month pilot project, reported Mint. "The pilot's success will pave the way for a full-fledged implementation of the project in the city in the future."

AI in Ayodhya

Not only will Ayodhya be kept safe with the assistance of AI, but the telecom connectivity experience for visitors will also see improvement. AI and machine learning (ML) are being utilized by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to ensure seamless connectivity for attendees of the Ram temple inauguration, reported Economic Times.

A predictive analysis based on the projected number of attendees at the consecration ceremony is being conducted by DoT to advise telcos on the placement of additional mobile sites and the choice of technology - 2G, 4G, or 5G. The positioning of these mobile towers can be adjusted based on the crowd's movements, and the telecom department has established a war room to monitor all telecom activities in and around Ayodhya.

"With the help of AI/ML, we have been able to decide which technology tower and what frequency band is best to serve the people," said an official. Further he added, "The spectrum bands have been utilized in a manner that will offer great upload speeds along with downloads, as people are expected to upload videos from the venue."

Efforts are also underway to safeguard telecom networks from cyber attacks. "We know that network security has to be paramount as the telecom infrastructure may be vulnerable to cyber attacks," the official further stated.