Coronavirus pandemic has turned the world upside down. Be it the health sector, governmental financial reserves, manpower, technology, or scientific developments/ researches, the COVID-19 virus has pushed all limits of the majority of the developed or developing countries across the world.

Governments and local authorities across the globe are using technologies, sensors and all other devices, which they were not ready to use previously due to privacy concerns, to monitor the movement of the coronavirus positive people or to trace the contact of the infected people and also to make public announcements.

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It is believed to see for a positive thing in a bunch of negatives. So, that’s what we are doing in today’s report. Yes, the virus followed by the lockdown has crushed the Indian economy and it will take time to regain the original momentum. Yes, the automobile sector, real estate and other sectors are expected to suffer a great loss. But certain good things have taken place during this period like Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of having smart cities.

Reports suggest that the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) believes that the Smart City infrastructure has become an important tool in combating against coronavirus. Critics across the country have developed technologies that are being used to monitor the affected areas and maintaining a lid on the further spread of the COVID-19.

Below we have listed some of the cities with their unique technologies that are being used by the authorities and health officials.

Vadodara

The Vadodara district administration has installed a helium balloon attached with two cameras for surveillance on lockdown violators. The balloon, installed in the Tandalja area, also has a public address system attached to it.

Bengaluru

Model COVID-19 War Room at Bengaluru – COVID-19 data dashboard of Karnataka has been inaugurated by State Minister for Medical Education on 7 April 2020 at Bengaluru Smart City COVID War Room. This dashboard will be the single source of all COVID-related data which includes people under quarantine, their contacts, medical personnel on the ground, hospitals, taluk-wise & City-wise data & beyond. This real-time data is being put together with a host of software and applications

Kalyan Dombivali

To create awareness and keep citizens informed about Corona, awareness videos are published on KDMC (Kalyan Dombivali municipal corporation) Facebook page. To constantly keep citizens engaged, the Facebook page has published a daily routine of activities has been designed from 7:00 am to 9:00 pm. The city has identified local experts from different fields such as Yoga, Culinary Art, Aerobics, music, poetry, ghazal, Kathak and Bharatanatyam, philosophy and allotted time slots to each of them, in which they come live in Facebook Page of KDMC during scheduled time slots. This initiative is receiving huge response and appreciation from citizens.

Agra

E-Doctor Seva is a tele-video consultation facility, launched by Agra Smart City Ltd for the local population. https://tinyurl.com/edoctorapp. It is a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiative of Agra Smart City Limited. For consultations, citizens will have to log in using the link (https://tinyurl.com/edoctorapp ) and schedule an appointment with the doctor. Appointments can be taken using mobile appals well. The app can be downloaded by any Android phone (play store) users by clicking the link below: (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.needstreet.health.hppatient). Once an appointment is taken through the site/app a particular date and time will be allocated for the consultation. The patient can have a tele/video call with the doctor at the scheduled time. After the consultation, an online prescription can also be downloaded by the patient from the site/app. On request, required medicines will be delivered at home from the Smart Health Centre-Pharmacy.

• Smart Health Centers established under Smart City scheme help in spreading awareness about various Do & Don’ts of Corona, each patient is given a 3-5 min briefing on the advisory regarding Corona for both the general consultation as well as at the dental clinic. 325 patients took consultation in March and 675 patients in February. 1015 sanitizers and 935 masks were distributed at subsidized rates through the pharmacy at smart health center which provided a great relief to the people.

• Agra Administration in association with Agra Smart City & Agra Police has launched an innovative video surveillance solution will be made use to effectively monitor the various locations in Agra city to manage the crowd and fight COVID 19. The latest in this effort is the AI-based Analytics, the first of its kind combat COVID 19 in Agra. An alert is instantly generated to help the authorities to strictly maintain social distancing in Agra. The alerts are configured through an App on the field staff Mobile phones and help the Police Administration on the ground. Agra lockdown monitor App will be available to all thana in-charges and any other police personnel as required.

Kakinada

COVID-19 data dashboard developed in Kakinada ICCC. Kakinada, district, state and country-level information are being displayed in the ICCC. The details can be accessed at https://covid19.kkdeservices.com:2278.

Chandigarh

Chandigarh has installed a comprehensive ‘fight COVID station’ with facilities of thermal screening by taking temperature, pedestal operated hand-wash and soap dispenser, mist spray of sodium hypochlorite solution and hand dryer facility. It has been installed at the Main Mandi sector-25, Chandigarh by Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh and all visitors to Mandi are expected to pass through the station.