The ‘Smart’ Response to COVID-19

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The ‘Smart’ Response to COVID-19

The ‘Smart’ Response to COVID-19

27 Aug 2020 Long Read

Photo courtesy: L&T Smart World

Being future-ready is the aim of India’s smart cities mission (SCM). And an integral part of that is ensuring the safety and security of citizens. However, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the future is now, with existing smart city models having to prove their agility and ability to handle a pandemic.

The negative impact on project execution aside, executors of the SCM are now being impelled to draw learnings from the ongoing pandemic and apply these to situations on ground to build effective and long-term solutions. Their capability to reinvent and refine smart city models to accommodate for today’s scenario has the potential to be a gamechanger.

SCM: Proposals and execution

First, let’s understand where we stand in terms of the SCM (see Table 1).

                                 Table 1: India’s Smart City Mission


With regard to execution, as on March 31, 2020, 1,582 projects worth Rs 26,550 crore were completed—just 13 percent of the total budgeted outlay of SCM. Projects worth Rs 96,370 crore are under implementation and tendering will soon happen for projects worth Rs 41,000 crore. So, to view project implementation as a whole, as on March 31, 2020, work orders amounting to Rs 1,22,835 crore have been issued and the Centre has disbursed Rs 19,552 crore.

Further, road projects have been given priority ahead of the onset of the monsoon, with 151 road projects worth Rs 2,353 crore completed and around 296 projects worth Rs 12,825 crore under implementation. Similarly, 41 smart solar projects worth Rs 216 crore have been completed with another 40 such projects worth Rs 708 crore under implementation. As for wastewater management, 36 projects worth Rs 1,380 crore have been completed and 104 projects worth Rs 10,986 crore are under implementation. And on the PPP front, 88 projects worth Rs 3,675 crore are complete and 102 projects worth Rs 12,331 crore are under implementation.

Coping with COVID-19

Central to every smart city is the Integrated Command Control Centre (ICCC).And during this pandemic, ICCCshave swung into action to help cities run smoothly even during strict lockdowns.

In fact, across India, 45 smart city ICCCs were transformed overnight into COVID-19 war rooms. As the nerve centre for operations to contain the spread of the pandemic, these ICCCs were used efficiently for various municipal functions, including essential services like water supply, traffic management, street lighting, monitoring transportation movement,property tax collection and, most important, CCTV control for security.

“L&T Smart World has been working with various city administrations and state governments to effectively manage complex civic functions in metropolitan cities,” shares SN Subrahmanyan, CEO & MD, L&T.“With its ability to seamlessly integrate various smart technologies to manage surveillance, crowd management, message delivery and communication to the residing populace, L&T is supporting the transformation of city civic administrations [see box on L&T’s initiatives].”

This is affirmed by key functionaries across the country.

As Sudesh Kumar Sundarani, GM (Technical), Raipur Smart City,says, “The sudden advent of the COVID-19 pandemic needed coordinated efforts by city authorities. Thanks to L&T Smart World, Raipur Smart City quickly converted its ICCC into a 24x7 war room with a dedicated Citizen Distress Helpline for coordinated decision making by multiple departments and to address COVID-19 related citizen complaints. Implementation efforts from L&T Smart World have helped us reduce the response time to emergencies in these critical times.”

And Srinath Reddy, DSP, Telangana Police IT Cell, tells us ,“As Hyderabad is one of the largest cities in India with a population of over 10 million, it is resource-intensive to monitor such a huge area manually. So we have decided to leverage our extensive CCTV network in the city for monitoring. We have tasked L&T Smart World to use artificial intelligence (AI) technology to implement vehicle restriction during lockdown, crowd detection, face mask detection and physical distancing solutions across the city. Thanks to the quick turnaround time from L&T Smart World, we were able to focus on enforcement efforts and awareness campaigns.”

The ICCCs also played a crucial role in healthcare support and management. With just minor tweaks, these hi-tech centres were able to support municipalities monitoring the process with just a single click. Within just a few days, cities switched functions to monitor COVID-19 affected quarantine facilities, provided free Wi-Fi facilities and support to quarantined people; and tracked the health of suspected patients and their contacts under home quarantine. Though the roads were relatively empty, the ICCCs also monitored roads and traffic through drones and propagated awareness messages through helplines.

Kunal Kumar, SCM Mission Director, in a piece co-authored with Jaideep Gupte, Research Fellow, Institute for Development Studies, has written that India’s response to COVID-19 now depends on the successful use of its smart cities investment. Indeed, slowing down the spread of the pandemic will require, among other things, heavy reliance on India’s data infrastructure, providing real-time data readings for critical and quick decision-making.

There have been heartening examples where citizens have used the platform for self-assessment with the information then being passed on to city authorities. And pin code-wise mapping has been done identifying high-risk people.

Concerns over priorities

That said, questions continue to be raised about the implementation and priorities of SCM. For instance, many have pointed out that work on less than half the cities has been started and that in a third of the chosen cities, not a single project has been completed.

Let’s look a little closer at the segment-wise allocation (see Table 2 and Figure 1). Area-based development (ABD) commands the majority of funding and focuses on districts or communities within cities. It has been criticised for targeting already affluent areas and populations benefitting only 3-4 percent of the population. Even most initiatives part of the pan-city solution focus more on surveillance and control (CCTV, facial recognition, security systems, etc) rather than sanitation, infrastructure or environmental protection.

Table 2: Smart Cities’ Fund Allocation

SMART CITIES FUND ALLOCATION

Segment

Amount (Rs Crore)

% of Total

Safety

3690

1.84

Waste management

4920

2.45

Social segment

5125

2.55

Stormwater

5125

2.55

Environment

5330

2.65

Additionalothers

7176

3.57

NMT and others

8411

4.19

Water supply

11276

5.61

Housing

13121

6.53

IT/ ICT

19147

9.53

Energy

26707

13.30

Economic development

26037

12.96

Area development

30753

15.31

Urban transport

34033

16.94

200851


Figure 1: Segment budget allocation in %


 


Opportunities ahead

A look at these numbers clearly indicates that the major focus has been on economic development, area development, including roads, and energy—allocation to healthcare has been less than 2 per cent of the over Rs 200,000 crore in smart city funding. As reported, only 69 out of over 5,000 projects in the SCM have been focused on health infrastructure and capacity building.

All considered, opportunities abound to make our smart cities not just future-friendly but pandemic-ready.

According to data and analytics company Global Data, despite delays in smart city projects owing to paucity of funds, smart cities like Agra, Chandigarh, Vadodara, Bengaluru and Kakinada have been able to effectively tap technologies like IoT/sensors, tele-healthcare, data and analytics to contribute significantly to India’s fight against COVID-19.

For instance, Agra Smart City launched a tele-video consultation service that allows citizens to book an appointment with healthcare professionals and even download online prescriptions from a dedicated website/app. Bengaluru and Kakinada Smart Cities have launched data dashboards to act as a single source for all pandemic-related action and measures, as well as data collection. And Varanasi has deployed drones to spray sanitiser around COVID-19-sensitive parts of the city.

Further, looking above and beyond COVID-19, the potential for smart cities to transform the quality of life of citizens is immense. As Y Srinivasa Rao, Director, m1 Homes, Bengaluru, points out, there are mega opportunities for stakeholders of smart city projects in areas like utilities; traffic and transportation; health services; security; governance; commerce; energy and water efficiency; visualisation of land usage; and tackling urban air pollution.

India Inc is taking note. For example, Tech Mahindra recently bagged a Rs 500 crore project from the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), securing its largest smart city contract. This takes the company’s total smart city projects tally to six and the total contract value to Rs 1,000 crore. The comprehensive project is expected to cover aspects like smart surveillance, smart parking and traffic management as well as an ICCC and social media analytics.

Undoubtedly, the future is smart. And the present has only reinforced this fact. While it is still early to measure the level of success India’s smart cities have achieved in handling the COVID-19 crisis, they have certainly contributed to the country’s fightback through innovative use of technologies. Many experts in the field see parallels with the 2008 global financial crisis, which helped propel the first international wave of smart city projects. The economic crash and resultant government budget shortfalls created an impetus for cities to collaborate with technology firms to address urban problems and generate new sources of revenue. A COVID-19 recession could result in similar dynamics, with more PPPs or entirely private sector-driven initiatives entering the space.

A global perspective

According to a 2018 forecast from Grand View Research, the global market size of smart cities was set to rise to $ 2.57 trillion by 2025, up from $ 737 billion in 2018. World over, national and municipal governments have been deploying smart city technology in the fight against the Coronavirus, using it to track the spread of the pandemic and support the implementation of medical strategies. As well as demonstrating the value of smart technologies, these new applications are helping shape the future of smart cities.

Here are some examples:

  • South Korea: The country’s Smart City Data Hub system allowed the government to conduct advanced contact tracing, using data from cameras and other sensors. As a result, it was one of a handful of countries to rapidly reduce infection rates without a full lockdown.
  • UAE: Having previously used a system that tracks mobile phone pings to cell towers to monitor crowds during New Year’s Eve celebrations, the UAE adapted this to ensure social distancing and adherence to lockdown rules. Parallel to this, an AI surveillance system in Dubai that reads licence plates—originally designed to reduce crime and traffic accidents—has been adapted to identify citizens leaving their homes without authorisation during lockdown.
  • Singapore: Rather than cut back on technology investment in the wake of COVID-19, the government has announced that it will increase its investment in IT by 30 percent. Development of new technology tools to fightCOVID-19 was cited as a major reason for the increased investment.
  • China: The country has rejuvenated its New Infrastructure Initiative (launched in 2018) in the wake of COVID-19, using increased investment in smart city technologies to spur innovation and the economy. It has announced that it will dramatically increase investments in 5G, smart grids, data centres, and other smart city-related areas.
  • Technology to the rescue!

    Across India, L&TSmart World solutions are helping to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

    A business unit of Larsen & Toubro, L&T Smart World has rolled out smart technology solutions to combat COVID-19 in over 20major cities across India, including Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Prayagraj, Ahmedabad, Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad. These technologies are helping city administrations track patients, contain the spread of the virus, monitor quarantined people, control crowding, galvanise rescue efforts, spread COVID-19 related messages to people, and establish the rule of law in the current scenario.

    The company has partnered with municipal and police agencies to setup technology and manage command and control centres and city operations centres. In fact, whenever India has faced a major calamity such as cyclone Fani in Odisha or needed to manage a mammoth congregation such as last year’s Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj, L&T Smart World has been at the forefront, working closely with government authorities.

    During the pandemic, AI-based video analytics like crowd detection have been deployed in existing city surveillance infrastructure; customised advisories issued from the command and control centres in coordination with municipal corporations and other stakeholders; messages propagated through public address systems(PAS) and variable message displays (VMD) deployed citywide in coordination with municipal corporations; mobile apps rolled out for surveys, SOS and tracking of affected citizens; and chatbots implemented for emergency or curfew pass systems for emergencies and essential services.

    Here’s a state-wise rundown of L&T’s technology interventions to fight COVID-19:

    TELANGANA

  • AI-based vehicle movement restriction: In Hyderabad, the administration issued an order asking people not to drive beyond 3km from their residences even for buying essential goods. Using existing machine learning-based automated number plate recognition (ANPR) system, vehicle locations are monitored continuously. The moment a vehicle crosses the 3-km limit, an automated alert is sent out to the police. Additionally through integration of the Regional Transport Authority’s (RTA) database, vehicle owners are identified, aiding officials to issue a warning.
  • AI-based crowd control: Over 200 cameras have been deployed in key areas across the city, enabled with crowd formation analytics, triggering real-time alerts at the police command centre, helping the police disperse the crowd through field officers.
  • Public messages: The PAS installed in different parts of Hyderabad connected to the police command centre. Apart from regular announcements on COVID-19, law enforcement officials broadcast customised announcements—in terms of language, locality and content—whenever crowd gathering is detected.
  • Message display: L&T has leveraged 40 variable VMD boards setup for traffic management at arterial locations across Hyderabad. Precautionary measures and government communiques on COVID-19 are being displayed on them.

  • ANDHRA PRADESH

  • COVID-19 contact centre: In Visakhapatnam, L&T has partnered in implementing the smart city project and operates the City Grievance Cell. The cell has been converted into a 24x7 COVID contact centre with 20+ operators, tracking the details of all individuals who recently returned from abroad. Each individual is being contacted every day for 14 days to monitor symptoms for COVID-19. In case of symptoms, the information is passed on to the chief medical officer of the municipality on a real-time basis.
  • COVID-19 survey: L&T’s m-governance app developed for Vizag Smart City is used by municipal officials for day-to-day operations. The app has been customised for health workers to carry out a house survey every three hours and record the health parameters of self-isolated people and neighbourhoods with COVID-19 positive cases. Also, about 40,000 people in greater Visakhapatnam use the Citizen App developed by L&T for Vizag Smart City. The app is now equipped with a COVID-19 SOS button for citizens for help in a medical emergency in real time. It also enables users to take a questionnaire to check whether they have developed any symptoms—a scoring mechanism has been developed for mild/moderate/critical categorisation. For critical cases, a COVID-19 medical emergency SOP is triggered; for non-critical cases, operators connect concerned zonal doctors through telemedicine for further counselling and advice. The app alerts the contact centre for any unwanted movement of citizens marked for self-isolation using geo-fencing technology. Further, a functionality to self-record health parameters of isolated people is incorporated. This includes a mandatory daily update for international travellers and voluntary update for self-isolated citizens.
  • Public message: As many as 50 PAS installed on smart poles by L&T are relaying official messages on the lockdown, crowd restrictions and precautionary measures.
  • Message display: Ten VMD boards in the city are leveraged to relay messages on precautionary measures and government communiques on COVID-19.

  • MAHARASHTRA

  • Crowd monitoring: Using CCTV surveillance footage, L&T is helping the police get real-time alerts on crowd formation in different parts of Mumbai. These alerts have helped the police take corrective action.
  • Smart operators: L&T has deployed 15 operators at the central command centre in Mumbai. They are helping the authorities provide round-the-clock situational awareness and actionable intelligence.
  • Message display: Pune was the first city in Maharashtra to report COVID-19 positive cases. L&T has now practically covered the entire city by leveraging 152 VMD boards that constantly relay messages on precautionary measures to combat the virus. Further, 15 PAS are being used for dissemination of messages. Similar initiatives have been undertaken in Nagpur with 51 VMDs and 112 PAS.
  • Mobile command centres: In Nagpur, L&T has rolled out mobile command centres for the police to cover areas that lack CCTV cameras. Police are patrolling such localities to act on the spot to disperse crowds.
  • Vehicle monitoring: In Nagpur, by relaying the CCTV camera feed to the police control room, L&T is helping to restrict the movements of vehicles in areas demarcated as COVID-19 isolation zones.

  • UTTAR PRADESH

  • City operations centre: L&T has partnered with Prayagraj Smart City to manage city operations and the Kumbh Mela. Currently, the city operations centre is monitoring crowd formation through over 1,000CCTV cameras deployed throughout the city.
  • COVID-19 helpline: At Prayagraj, the 1920 helpline number is currently used to handle COVID-19 related calls.
  • Message display: As many as 14 VMD boards are being used in Prayagraj to relay messages on precautionary measures on COVID-19. The 1920 helpline number services are now being extended as ‘Doctor on Call’ services.
  • Mobile awareness: L&T has partnered with Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) to implement advanced metering infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh, including 4 million smart meters. As part of this project, a Consumer Mobile App was rolled out, which is currently used by 1 million people. This app is now leveraged to relay official COVID-19 related information from the authorities.

  • RAJASTHAN

  • Crowd & vehicle monitoring: In the four cities of Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner and Bharatpur, by relaying the CCTV camera feed to the police control room, L&T is empowering the police with situational intelligence to restrict the movement of people as well as vehicles in areas demarcated as COVID-19 isolation zones.
  • COVID-19 helpline: Over 205 COVID-19 related calls have been received in Jodhpur, Bikaner and Bharatpur.

  • GUJARAT

  • Crowd control: Through round-the-clock monitoring of surveillance feed, law enforcement officials are alerted on crowd formation from centralised command centres in the cities of Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Vadodara.

  • CHHATTISGARH

  • COVID command centre: In the capital city Raipur, the smart city command centre has been converted into a COVID-19 command centre by the police and district authorities to monitor the city and enable multi-agency coordination.
  • Message display: In Raipur, 23 VMD boards across the city are used to relay precautionary measures on COVID-19. This apart, 34 PAS are being used for dissemination of general awareness messages.

  • ODISHA

  • Curfew warning: An early warning dissemination system (EWDS) set up by L&T has been used to send out siren alerts in 90 locations; around 2,000 SMSs were sent to the public for the Janata Curfew on 21 March. This EWDS saved countless lives in coastal areas of the state during cyclone Fani last year.

  • TAMILNADU

  • 24x7 operations: The Tamil Nadu State Data Centre is running with 100 per cent capacity. It hosts the website https://stopcorona.tn.gov.in, a crucial portal to monitor and avail updates from the state government. It also hosts other critical applications of state government departments like Tamil Nadu Medical Colleges & Hospitals, Aavin Milk, the Tamil Nadu Police Department and the Tamil Nadu Civil Supply Corporation.

  • New solutions

    In addition to the above, L&T is also working with authorities to roll out new solutions, including a Chatbot-based emergency pass system with QR code in Telangana; drone-based surveillance for crowd formation in Mumbai; and fever detection using thermal cameras in Mumbai.


    “Very soon, LED lighting will become the principal infrastructure to provide smart technology and services for your city.”

    - Anuj Dhir, Vice-President & Business Head, Wipro Lighting

    Wipro Lighting has been a major player in the Indian lighting sector. Please tell us about the larger opportunity smart lighting has created in India.
    In a smart city, smart street lights and poles fulfil many more functions than mere illumination. Street lighting poles can also serve as data stations with sensors for adaptive lighting, weather and pollution sensing and monitoring; enable Wi-Fi and RF connectivity; provide smart screens for ads and public address systems; monitor parking spaces; and recharge the batteries of an electric car. As cities grow, a security infrastructure of sensors and cameras can decrease the risk of any threat, accidental or intentional. Such a system can run directly over the centrally managed street lighting grid, making the city a better place to live in.

    Lighting-based traffic control and management, parking space allocation and commute information can leverage the lighting platform and deliver an infrastructure-based solution for smart cities, thus providing an enhanced user experience for citizens. Centralised monitoring and control, easy and quicker maintenance, power savings, higher reliability and greater system efficiency are some of the facets of technology-based lighting solutions in smart cities. Being connected to a single network, the lighting system can provide concrete data on the amount of electricity consumed by each light on a broader level or even how much a phase consumes. This can help eliminate the problem of electricity theft and enable proactive maintenance as the leaks in a particular network can be readily discovered and necessary actions immediately taken.

    Accurate switching times based on local sunset and sunrise with the aid of a photo-sensor or time-scheduled switches, increased flexibility of lighting, data management with the help of an energy consumption report, 24-hour online monitoring system (GIS), increased security with the help of CCTV cameras on poles and anti-theft alarms are intelligent features of a connected outdoor lighting system.

    Please tell us about your association with Schréder and projects implemented through this association for smart cities and smart campuses.
    Wipro is a design and technology leader in introducing well-designed, aesthetic, high-performance products to the Indian market. Our tie-up with Schréder is another step in the same direction. We are currently working on multiple projects from inception and design to implementation of various projects encompassing government and private entities. Wipro sees good opportunities in state-of-the-art, high-performance, technical urban lighting and smart outdoor solutions, including smart poles, with technological solutions from Schréder. Our aim of collaborating with Schréder is to bring their patented technology and products like smart streetlights and smart poles and expertise to empower smart cities in India and address the premium lighting requirements of an urban India. Schréder’s Lightability™ uses the power of light to improve cities significantly. This is one more offering on our Internet of Lighting (IoL)® platform and we are confident it can help derive the best outcomes and make our cities safe and smart.

    Do you expect the demand from smart cities to improve further as and when unlocking of economic activity picks up pace, especially in real estate and infrastructure? If so, please guide us through market growth estimates for smart lighting in India going ahead.

    Connected living is where citizens and government participate together to make the place intelligent, smart and safe. Very soon, LED lighting in your vicinity will become the principal infrastructure to provide smart technology and services for your city. We expect smart lighting demand to surge in the coming future as multiple projects are expected to get into the implementation phase. Demand is expected to be primarily generated by smart city corporations and ULBs (urban local bodies). However, we are also witnessing increased interest in smart outdoor lighting from the private sector for campuses, smart factories, townships and colonies. The fast-paced movement of projects in smart cities can further generate the demand for specialised lighting requirements in coming days.