NDMC centre to watch traffic movement, hotels, pollution during G20

The command centre receives live video streams from more than 500 cameras and 53 smart poles across Lutyens’ Delhi.

From coordinating the movement of delegates from hotels to the G20 Summit venue, monitoring traffic congestion and local pollution levels to keeping a check on maintenance of beautified stretches -- the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) plans to use its Integrated Command and Control Centre as the nerve centre for managing work related to hosting the global event over the next fortnight, senior officials aware of the arrangements said on Wednesday.

G20 preparations underway near the IGI airport on Wednesday. (Sanjeev Verma)

Located at the ground floor of the NDMC headquarters at Palika Kendra near Jantar Mantar and equipped with a 9.3x2.6 metremonitoring console which has 18 screens, the command centre receives live video streams from more than 500 cameras and 53 smart poles located across the key rotaries and avenue roads in Lutyens’ Delhi.

NDMC vice-chairman Satish Upadhyay said, “We will use the centre to check congestion points and status of services that have been upgraded and road stretches which were revamped for the meeting. It will also help improve security and ensure seamless coordination with other agencies.”

While the main summit venue -- the Bharat Mandapam (Pragati Maidan) -- is not under NDMC jurisdiction, the 12 hotels where a large number of delegates and heads of States are located in areas managed by the civic agency.

An NDMC official said that the command centre operates round the clock, and it receives live feed from CCTVs installed on avenue roads, key office buildings and parking sites in the New Delhi area.

“The cameras can be used to identify unauthorised vehicles and those parked illegally, causing obstructions to the traffic movement. A team of NDMC officials at the command centre can immediately raise an alarm to the filed officers and traffic police to trigger a quick action,” the official added.

“The camera feeds will be monitored in three shifts. Each operational shift requires around 100 personnel with 66 stationed inside the centre for monitoring activities and the rest engaged in back-end work and data collection,” the official said.

A first-of-its-kind experiment by a local body in north India, the command centre was set up in 2020-21 under the Smart City project at the cost of ₹65 crore.

Apart from monitoring camera feeds, it also collects data from the air quality sensors installed in New Delhi area at 55 locations, enables GPS-based monitoring of vehicles, can control street lights and monitors sanitation.

“The idea is to enable the officials to take real time decisions based on inputs from across New Delhi district,” the official said, explaining the reason for using the command centre for G20 Summit.

The council will deploy around 3,000 of its civic staff for preparations and housekeeping related work of Lutyens’ Delhi during the Summit period.