Control centres under smart cities mission turn into COVID-19 war rooms

Surveillance of public places using CCTVs, real-time tracking of healthcare workers with GPS technology, mapping of positive COVID-19 cases through geographic information system (GIS) and generation of heat maps to visualise the spread of the virus.

These are some of the features of the integrated command-and-control centres (ICCCs) of the smart cities mission that are currently being used to fight the pandemic. The Centre’s mission to develop cities across the country includes ICCCs to manage the surveillance of the unban spaces.

According to Hindustan Times, ICCCs in states like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Delhi, Kerala Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are being used as war rooms to prevent the spread of the virus. “The Centre is coordinating with the states through our central command centre at Nirman Bhawan in New Delhi,” HT quoted an official as saying.

Already, the Railways has converted more than 2,500 coaches into isolation wards amid the 21-day nationwide lockdown. These coaches consist of 40,000 beds to meet the needs of patients in the future.

As of April 7, India has 4,312 active cases of COVID-19. As many as 352 people have been either cured or discharged, while 124 have lost their lives due to the pandemic.