Smart Cities control room becomes war room for COVID-19

The Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs) set up in smart cities under the centrally sponsored National Smart Cities Mission came as handy for various states for real-time surveillance and monitoring of COVID-19 hit areas.

The states have converted the ICCCs as war room to fight against the disease for various task including to provide telemedicine counselling to the public, monitor quarantine people, co-ordinate among various agencies involved in containment measures of disease, disseminate information among field workers.

"Leveraging the smart infrastructure, cities are developing predictive analytics using heat maps and taking action in monitoring the movements (using geofencing) as well as the periodic health status of suspected cases," said an official in the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.

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Smart Cities are collaborating with medical practitioners both from government and private sector in the city to provide online medical consultation facilities to citizens.

Several states including Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra deployed doctors, para-medical staff, police and experts in a different field in ICCCs to take the public call and answer their queries.

For instance, Mangaluru Smart City has dedicated call centre with helpline No: 1077 for monitoring and advising the citizens under self-quarantine and telemedicine.

In Jabalpur, dedicated Rapid Response Team (RRT) and Mobile Action Unit (MAU) are present on ground ward-wise who coordinates with officials present at ICCC regarding screening, ambulance, quarantine etc.

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Ujjain ICCC, two doctors are stationed at the centre for 24 hours duration to take video conferencing/ telephone calls from the citizens and give appropriate advice based on the symptoms. 40 Medical Mobile Units (MMU) are operationalized to distribute medicines to people based on prescriptions by doctors.

"If command centres closed-circuit television (CCTV) became handy to keep a watch on public, it also helps to real-time tracking of ambulances and disinfection services," said the official.

Since the Centre is coordinating with the states through Smart Cities Mission's central command centre at Nirman Bhawan in New Delhi, it will help the different government officials in the national capital to collaborate with district administration, police and civic authorities to monitor containment measure.

The National Smart Cities Mission is an urban renewal and retrofitting program launched by the Government of India in 2015 with the aim to develop smart cities across the country, making them citizen-friendly and sustainable.

The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Development is responsible for implementing the mission in collaboration with the state governments of the respective cities.