Hi-tech centre for city vigil to be launched in August

Bhubaneswar: The Integrated City Operations and Management Centre (ICOMC), a hi-tech facility to put the capital under surveillance, will be operationalised from the new iconic building of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters in August, officials in Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) have said.
The ambitious project has been initiated under the smart city mission by BSCL. “Dry run of the facility will be conducted in July and full-fledged operations will begin in August. The project is almost complete. I have already inspected the facility. It will be operationalised within the targeted time,” said BSCL chief executive officer Sanjay Kumar Singh.
A 3,000-sq ft video panel has been installed at the 11-storeyed building, build at Rs 95 crore, to give live footages of the city traffic, parking lots, buses and other operations. While the ICOMC will occupy the building’s first and second floor, third floor will house a cafeteria and terrace. Fourth and fifth floor have been allotted to the BSCL office. The civic body will utilise the remaining floors. At present, the ICOMC has been set up at a temporary building so that its operational needs could be understood. “It is the most ambitious technology-backed project under the Smart City mission that will encompass most of the operations of the capital, such as traffic signal posts, public transport system, solid waste collection and transporting vehicles, city buses, police patrol vans and ambulance and fire services. The centre will ensure round-the-clock surveillance of the city’s public life to ensure safety and convenience to residents,” said BSCL general manager Kamaljit Das. He added that a huge video wall has been put up on the ICOMC floor, spread over 40,000 sq ft, to display the live feeds from traffic signal posts and the latest situations at traffic junctions.