Gurugram is the most suitable city to live in India from COVID-19 perspective, considering parameters like population density, hospital infrastructure, among others, as per a report by real estate platform Square Yards.
The report 'Suitability Index: The COVID Perspective', considered three prime cities of India -- Bengaluru, Mumbai and Gurugram -- to study their suitability for COVID-19. "Not only are these cities the top real estate destinations in the country but also were one of the top cities to be severely hit by COVID," it said.
Four prime parameters were considered for computing the index -- population density, COVID-19 cases, hospital infrastructure and open areas ratio of each locality or zones in the selected cities.
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"As per the analysis, Gurugram was the most suitable city to live from a COVID perspective amongst the three cities studied for the report," it said, adding that localities in the east zone such as sectors 52-56, 58, 40-44, 30, 24-27, among others, were found to be the most suitable for living as per the index.
The western and central suburbs in Mumbai (wards N and PN) and Mahadevapura zone in Bengaluru were found to be the most suitable to live from a COVID perspective.
The pandemic exposed the shortcomings in our medical infrastructure like never before. Both Mumbai and Bengaluru were poorly placed in this regard, with just 1.3 and 0.30 COVID hospitals available, respectively, per 10,000 people in the cities. Gurugram outshone both with 2.5 hospitals per 10,000 people, it said.
On population density, it said the average population density in Mumbai is nearly 60,000 people/sq km and touches 70,000 in some wards. It is followed by Bengaluru and Gurugram with an average density of 15,000/sq km and 4,200/sq km, respectively.
Contrary to the common notion, the report said Mumbai has the highest open area ratio amongst the three cities at nearly 45 per cent. The corresponding number for Gurugram and Bengaluru stood at 35 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively.
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