The city’s Index App, which was developed following the outbreak of COVID-19, has been recognised for using technology to set up the COVID-19 war room. It has been adjudged the winner in the third round of the COVID-19 Innovation Award in the India Smart Cities Awards Contest (ISAC) 2020.
The results of ISAC 2020 along with Climate Smart Cities Assessment Results 2.0 were announced by Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri in New Delhi on Friday. Bengaluru bagged three stars with an overall score of 1,271 out of 2,800. It fared fairly well and bagged three stars each in the areas of energy and green building (330/600) and urban planning, green cover and biodiversity (244/500).
The city also bagged four stars in waste management (395/600), but fared poorly in the areas of mobility and air quality (two stars; 187/500) and water management (one star; 115/600). Tumakuru’s Digital Library Solution also bagged third place in ISAC 2020 under the social aspects category.
P. Rajendra Cholan, managing director of Bengaluru Smart City Ltd. (BSCL), told The Hindu that the Index App was the main driver of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s COVID-19 war room. During the second wave, the app was integrated with all other applications, such as the Central Hospital Bed Management System, contact tracing app, the monitoring of those under home isolation, apart from the State war room.
“This ensured that there was end-to-end information available at a click of a button. The system will stand in good stead for COVID-19 management during the third wave when that happens,” he said, adding that the State war room was now looking at adopting the Index App technology.
About the overall score of three stars under the Climate Smart Cities Assessment Results 2.0, Mr. Cholan claimed Bengaluru had performed better than other Smart Cities in the country. As many as 54 Smart Cities were assessed on various parameters by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
He added that a nodal officer was appointed from BSCL to collect details, documents and records from various stakeholders, including the BBMP and Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, and submit the same for the assessment. “While it is a fair assessment of where the city stands, there are a lot of initiatives that have been taken already by the respective stakeholders and the State government that did not fit into the assessment criteria,” he pointed out, citing initiatives and projects already taken up under Bengaluru Mission 2022.
