Binay Singh
Varanasi: Though the coronavirus has spread its tentacles in the district infective five people so far, the local administration has waged a multipronged war to arrest its spread.
The divisional commissioner Deepak Agrawal on Saturday inspected the COVID-19 control room created at the well-equipped Kashi (Integrated) Command and Control Centre (KCCC), which enables close monitoring of all municipal activities, public services and facilities including city’s traffic, street sweeping, collection and transportation of solid waste. It has been established near Varanasi Municipal Corporation’s main building in Sigra locality.
Now, at this critical time the centre is being used not only to keep a constant watch on all COVID-19 related activities but also address all the problems arising due to the lockdown that restricts the civic mobility.
Under the KCCC, an important component of Smart City project, Advanced Photo System type-C (APCS), Red Light Violation Detection (RLBD) and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras have been placed at different points in the city. Besides, fixed box, PTZ and multisensor cameras have also been installed. All the monitoring is being done at a number of workstations equipped with video walls. Besides, the command centre is also linked with public address system, digital display unit with variable message display network connectivity with GIS platform.
“The facilities at this centre are being used for the battle against COVOD-19,” said the commissioner adding that anyone could report one’s problems by dialing 1077. The areas are being monitored through 300 CCTV cameras installed across the city. The facility of tele OPD has also been made available at the centre for the healthcare of people during lockdown. The joind director (health) Dr. Manisha Singh said that the tele OPD has been functioning since April 1, and so far over 90 persons used the service. Similarly, the works of other departments including municipal corporation, revenue, police, food and supply are also being looked after by the centre.
Besides this command centre, the district administration and police are active in the field for the proper enforcement of lockdown and maintain the supply of essential commodities. The district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma and SSP Prabhakar Chowdhary held a meeting with the Muslim clerics and sought their cooperation this battle against coronavirus.
