Smart-City Kanpur: Applies 3-Pronged Strategy To Combat Covid-19 Crisis

Kanpur Nagar, an industrial city and a major hub in the supply chain network for Uttar Pradesh, has managed to contain the coronavirus while maintaining the distribution of essential services to its residents.  
 
 “We initially studied the whole city as in where can major disruptions occur due to the outbreak and planned accordingly. A three-pronged approach including distribution of essential services, medical facilities and administration were made to help the people of the city during the lockdown,” Brahma Deo Ram Tiwari, District Magistrate, Kanpur Nagar tells BW Businessworld. 

Earlier, under the integrated allotment of the funds from the UP Government, Kanpur Nagar’s administration received Rs 2 crore for the medical facilities. However, through the donations of MPs and MLAs and various organizations, the administration has raised over Rs 1.5 crore says Tiwari. 

While essential services play a major role in easing the problems of the citizens, the city’s administration had opened few units to maintain the distribution of services with the maintenance of social distancing norms. To speed-up the testing facilities of the city, the administration has recently opened a Covid-19 Hospital under the aegis of Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College with a facility of 120 beds.

The city has reported some cases of Covid-19. Till date Kanpur city has reported 27 cases with 26 active cases and 1 death, until 17 April . There are around a dozen hot-spots in the city that have been identified and isolated to prevent the dissemination of the virus. The administration has majorly focused on door-to-door delivery of services. In the coming days, Tiwari said that his core strategy will be on bulk testing and tracing positive cases across the city. The hot-spots in the city are been regularly surveyed through drones. 

Also, Kanpur Smart City Ltd (KSCL) has roped in Tech Mahindra to innovate an artificial intelligence tool for the administration of the city, reported earlier by Business Insider. The smart city control room is now as an integrated control room for all the problems related to Covid-19, essential supplies, sanitation etc., said one of the sources working on the ground. 

Kanpur is also a major producer of milk in the State. Currently, the city is supplying a major bulk of its milk production to Lucknow, Noida and Agra.