New system for civic amenities in 3 wards of Delhi

A senior MCD official said around 150-km-long colony road network will be monitored daily through this initiative

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) said that three wards have been selected for the implementation of its digital surveillance to monitor civic amenities and improve sanitation standards.

An MCD official said that a feed of images from across the road network will be made by vehicle-mounted cameras taking pictures across the city. (HT Archive)

In the first phase, MCD, through private agencies, will execute the project in Shahdara South zone’s Preet Vihar ward, Karol Bagh zone’s East Patel Nagar ward and central zone’s Kotla Mubarakpur ward.

Tender for the project was floated on August 10 and bids are likely to be finalised by end of the month. A senior municipal corporation official overseeing the project said around 150-km-long colony road network will be monitored daily through this initiative.

Officials said that various technology-based measures have been introduced by the Aam Aadmi Party-led MCD administration to improve sanitation management in the city, including geo-tagging of sanitation workers and use of smartwatches which will be implemented through this project.

According to the project report finalised by the sanitation wing of the MCD, a copy of which HT has seen, a monitoring system has been set up. This takes into account parameters such as road and infrastructure monitoring, waste dumping, condition of green belts and dustbins, among others.

“The system will automatically generate tickets after detecting damage or poor conditions which will be relayed to the appropriate department for resolution. A resolution application will also be set up for municipal staff. All these data points will be delivered by AI (artificial intelligence) dashboard which will generate daily heat maps on areas covered,” the report states. The corporation plans to store the data for six months with weekly progress reports.

An MCD official said that a feed of images from across the road network will be made by vehicle-mounted cameras taking pictures across the city. “Besides monitoring waste dumps and garbage lifting vehicles, we also plan to deploy these cameras on public transportation vehicle, taxis and delivery agents to increase the catchment area,” the official said, adding that it will help MCD move from manual monitoring to software-based system

Meanwhile, the MCD also launched a year-long sanitation drive called “Ab Dilli Hogi Saaf’ on Saturday. In a press conference held on Sunday, mayor Shelly Oberoi said that one of the 10 guarantees made in run up to the MCD elections last year was “to beautify Delhi and make it clean”. “Around 3,000 teams of officers have been formed in 250 municipal wards. Each team will inspect 50 lanes and upload the pictures on MCD’s 311 mobile application. MCD sanitation workers will then clean up these areas. All officers have been directed to identify vulnerable points where garbage heaps are formed daily,” she said. Oberoi added that beautification work will be carried out at these vulnerable points to desist people from throwing garbage.