Smart City Programme: Control rooms in 50 cities for Lock Down 3.0

On May 4, 2020, the Government of India implemented phase III of COVID-9 lock down. With the third lock down relaxing restrictions all over the country, major cities are still vulnerable to the spread of the virus. Hence, to fight the virus more efficiently and maintain a routine life, control rooms have been set up in smart cities.

About the control Rooms

• The Control rooms have been designed by the private firm Honeywell. 
• The rooms have sophisticated monitoring system. 
• It uses artificial intelligence and camera feeds to monitor the city. 
• The rooms help in generating clear report that will help the authorities to assess the effectiveness of the lock down.

Lock Down 3.0

• In Lock Down 3.0, over 130 red regions have been put under red zone. 
• Alongside, 284 orange zones and 319 green zones have been specified. 
• The regions have been sorted based on the cumulative cases and the doubling rate of the virus. 
• Green Zones are those regions that have no confirmed cases in the past 21 days. 
• Red zones are those regions where the number cases doubled. 
• These regions require testing, surveillance feedback.

Need

• The cities, especially the metropolitans have become the nerve centres of the virus. 
• On the other hand, they hold the key to economic revival as well. 
• Also, they are the manufacturing hubs. 
• When these cities come to standstill, human lives are greatly affected and so is the economy. 
• Therefore, there is a need to focus both on lives and livelihood.
• Hence, the control rooms are important.