To keep the social distancing norm fulfilled amid COVID-19, smart cities are collaborating with certified doctors and health experts to provide online medical consultation facilities to citizens. This decision of collaboration was taken on the lines of guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) along with NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog and Indian Medical Council (ICM) to allow remote delivery of medical services during the lockdown period.
- Under this doctors can write prescriptions based on telephonic, textual or video conversations — chat, images, messaging, emails, fax and others. This will reduce the risk of Covid-19 spread.
Ahmedabad again named as India’s No.1 Smart City
The city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat has been ranked as the top Smart City in India for its execution of smart projects in handling COVID-19 pandemic. The Command and Control Centre of Ahmedabad’s Smart City Development Ltd (SCDL) has played a key role in this achievement with proper enforcement and monitoring of lockdown.
Key Initiatives taken by Command and Control Centre of SCDL:
-It carried out surveillance through the 3,500 cameras installed all across the city. In case, any violations found, police actions were taken against the offenders.
-Initiation of vegetable-on-wheels, as part of which e-rickshaws visits residential societies to facilitate sale of vegetables.
-Helpline number ‘155303’ is provided for senior citizens to avail essential goods and can also complain about lack of services or improper civic work on this helpline.
-Variable messaging display screens have also been put up at 38 locations in the city to educate citizens about precautions to be taken against coronavirus.
