BMC starts GIS mapping of coronavirus affected areas in Mumbai

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has started GIS mapping of coronavirus affected areas in the city and set up a 'war room' to monitor the viral infection in the city and take steps to prevent its spread further. The maps of the areas where there are a higher number of coronavirus cases will be posted on the civic body's website to provide information about it to the public, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Praveen Pardeshi said in a release.

With the help of the maps, residents in those areas could take precautions more vigilantly, and people visiting those places for any work could easily take preventive measures, he said. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has sent two senior IAS officers - Ashwini Bhide and Dr Ramaswamy N - on deputation to the BMC to take steps to contain the spread of the deadly disease in the country's financial capital, the civic body said.

The BMC has also formed a 'corona war room' in its disaster control unit which will be functional round-the-clock and various activities like planning, prevention and management of the pandemic will be conducted there. Bhide, the former managing director of Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation, will work as coordinator of the war room that will collect and analyse the data on coronavirus disease.

The final year students of four BMC-run medical colleges and second and third year students of nursing colleges will also be given certain responsibilities and imparted proper training for it. Till Monday, 170 COVID-19 cases were reported from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, which consists of Mumbai city and parts of adjoining districts of Thane, Raigad and Palghar.