Unique COVID-19 response mechanism comes up in Srinagar

Srinagar : A unique COVID-19 response mechanism has come up in Srinagar to help people in distress during the prolonged lockdown to fight the pandemic and provide a one-stop solution to matters ranging from real-time tracking of cases to availability of essential commodities.
The Emergency Response and Management Centre (ERMC), which could be the first such mechanism in the country, is a brainchild of Srinagar’s Deputy Commissioner Shahid Iqbal Choudhary.
It was inaugurated by Lt Governor of Jammu and Kashmir G C Murmu on Friday evening remotely from Jammu.
“After we detected the first COVID-19 case in Srinagar on March 18 and observed the problems faced by the healthcare staff in keeping a watch, we thought of making use of technology. Discussed it with the Information Technology team and we had an app ready,” the 39-year-old officer told PTI here.
“Similarly, while enforcing lockdown, we were flooded with calls about various needs of people. While a large number were addressed, many still went unnoticed because of the enormous amount of workload.
“Half a dozen helplines for specific sectors were also making the response cumbersome. Therefore, it was decided to have an ERMC where one can get anything to everything from essential services to emergency response, essential commodities to grievance redressal and so on,” he said.