The infra-red machine to map traffic has been bought at a cost of Rs 30 lakh.
The Devendra Fadnavis-led government has promised Mumbai some relief from the bumper to bumper traffic and as a first step, a state-of-the-art machine from Australia is being deployed to map the city's traffic density and pattern.
An unified plan to build infrastructure - roads, flyovers and underpasses - and divert traffic will be chalked out according to the data available from the machine. In a first, the government intends to bring together all state departments and agencies regarding this.
"We have decided that we will strengthen the public transport system and try and make more space for parking available," Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told NDTV.
For "seamless traffic movement," a traffic management plan will be worked out by two municipal corporations in cooperation with the state government and traffic police.
"Mumbai (corporation) has already started it. Thane will also make a complete mobility plan," Mr Fadnavis added.
This is where the infrared machine from Australia - bought at a cost of Rs 30 lakh - is expected to help in a big way.
The machine can measure the number, type and speed of vehicles passing through a particular stretch. And it will be taken to all parts of the city to generate data. All future decisions on traffic dispersal will be taken after analysing the data.
"Traffic behaves differently in different parts of the city," Additional Municipal Commissioner SVR Srinivas told NDTV. "Earlier, this mapping was done manually, which was a defective way of doing things."
Critics, however, are questioning how things will improve with 200 news cars, 300 motorcycles being added on Mumbai's roads every day.
"We are being more car-friendly and less people-friendly while designing systems. If money is a constraint, should we use it on new systems or on improving the local trains?" questioned Aam Aadmi Party leader Meera Sanyal.
The government says the new policy is based on the 'Pedestrian First' concept, which will also make for a better public transport system.