GIS mapping of properties in city may begin by month-end

The Corporation has received all the clearances from various authorities, including the Ministry of Home Affairs, Intelligence Bureau, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Ministry of Defence. A senior Corporation official said, “We had hoped to start the drone survey by early September. While we have received all the clearances, we were given an extensive list of guidelines to follow. For example, the people working on the project – from Corporation, Consultants and the drone operator, should get a clearance from the Defence Ministry. The drones too should be inspected by various authorities, before usage. This process will take some time. We hope that we will start the drone survey by the end of this month.” 

In June this year, the Corporations started the first phase of the project: a door-to-door survey of three wards – Royapuram (Ward 57), Kodambakkam (Ward 136) and Adyar (Ward 172) on a pilot basis. The official added that the first phase was over and the second phase of door-to-door survey, encompassing three more wards is under way. Sowcarpet (Ward 54), Nandanam (Ward 141) and Raja Annamalai Puram, (Ward 173) will be covered in the second phase. “The pilot phase was a learning process and we were able to train our officials, and public too is cooperative now. More than 30 two-member teams (an official from Corporation and consultant each) are working on the project and they are covering 50 to 60 properties a day,” added the official. 

The idea is to map all the existing properties as well as utilities - government and private buildings, street lights, roads, parks, drains, trade centres. These buildings will be geo-tagged. “The base map has already been prepared and fed into the tablet, given to the team. This will be updated by the drone survey, which will give a geo-ID to the buildings. Using this, we can get a clear idea of the property and identify encroachments. Each lamp post, manhole, junction box and other utilities will be given a geo-tag,” said the official, adding that a small-scale control centre will be set up at the headquarters for this project. 

The GIS mapping will update the property data and ensure that the property tax is collected. “There are cases where a building is listed as a residence but is used as a commercial establishment; or a structure may have more floors than the permissible levels. The idea is to assess the property and ensure that the tax due to the Corporation is collected,” added the official. 

Cities like Bengaluru, Vizag, Hyderabad and many others have used GIS-mapping. “Hyderabad, for example, did a door-to-door survey followed by aerial photography, to assess the buildings. This led to a Rs 300-400 crore augmentation in tax collection,” pointed out another senior Corporation official.