Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : With Covid-19 declared as global pandemic, Smart Cities took immediate steps to manage the crisis. The response to Covid-19 in Smart Cities can be classified into four areas of action viz. Information, Communication, Management, and Preparedness. As on date, out of 100 Smart Cities, Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs) have been operationalised in 75 Smart Cities. State /District / City Administrations, converted ICCCs into Covid-19 War Rooms and used existing Smart Infrastructure for effective management of the pandemic.
All 100 Smart Cities deployed digital technology based and other innovative solutions to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic. The details of such steps taken by these Cities to manage the pandemic are available in the document “The Smart Responses to COVID-19: A Documentation of Innovative Actions by India’s Smart Cities during the Pandemic” which is available on smartnet.niua.org.
The Government of India ( GoI) launched the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) on June 25, 2015, for development of 100 cities as Smart Cities. The cities were selected through 4 rounds of competition from January 2016 to June 2018. As on November 12, 2021, these cities have tendered out 6,452 projects worth Rs 1,84,998 crore of which work orders have been issued in 5,809 projects worth Rs 1,56,571 crore and out of these, 3,131 projects worth Rs 53,175 crore have been completed.
Covid-19 pandemic related lockdowns and other unprecedented situations have led to temporary interruptions in execution of Smart City works across the country. However, Smart Cities commenced works after un-lockdown and are trying their best to make up for the time lost due to such unprecedented and unforeseen circumstances, according to a PIB release.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on December 2, 2021.