Mumbai: Disaster management cell to go high-tech

Mumbai: The BMC has decided to make the disaster management department high-tech. The disaster management cell will replace the outdated messaging system with an updated digital system. For this, Rs10 crore has been allocated in the BMC Budget 2020-21.

Mumbai is old and densely populated. In cities like Mumbai, many emergency situation keep occurring. However, in this important section, analogue wireless communication system, which was set up in 2009, is used till today.

This system is outdated and many errors and obstacles have been witnessed in the system. Workers are more needed to work on this system. They have to work manually. It makes it difficult to manage the situation in emergencies in the city, and the work is not completed in the expected time.

It has been decided to replace the analogue VHF system with digital mobile radio (DMR). Moreover, the automation of the system will help make the job easier and faster. DMR has advance communication features like geo fencing and geo tracking.

It will also have non interception by unauthorised comm­u­nication network, superior voice qu­a­lity etc. The proposed DMR sys­tem can be integrated with other co­mmunica­tion systems used by the body. A budget provision of Rs10 crore has been made for the work.

Additionally, it has been decided to install 500 more CCTV cameras in the city under the Mumbai City Surveillance (MCS) project. The live feeds of this camera will be available in the disaster management control room. Under this project, 5,000 CCTV cameras were already installed by the government of Maharashtra.

500 cameras will be the addition to the existing surveillance, and monitoring will be done in the ward control rooms. “Daily, we have to contact more than 100 departments. Due to outdated equipment, the dept was facing various issues dur­ing the works of the messag­ing sys­tem in the disaster management cell.

To speed up the work the up-gradation of the technology was needed. A provision of Rs10 crore has been made in the budget 2020-21,” said a diasaster management cell senior official.