High-tech BMC to get panoramic view of illegal constructions soon
From April 2018, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) may be able to keep record of every property, roads, especially illegal construction, using Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) technology and video recording with 360-degree panoramic view.
The survey, announced in 2016-17 budget at a cost of Rs 12 crore, will help the civic body identify unassessed properties. The survey has excluded slums. Once completed, the survey is expected to have information of more than 3 lakh properties across the city. “The roads feature of the data is expected to get over by end of the month. The survey will help us keep a track on illegal construction,” said a civic official requesting anonymity.
The technology, coupled with video-recordings, will record the length, breadth and height of properties along with the roads on which they exist. This is also an attempt to understand the actual existing building and the one in their records, when the occupation certificate was granted and raise red flag for any discrepancies. It will also integrate changes by the building owner, if any in the future. The survey was conducted with vehicle-mounted equipment, and where the four-wheeler cannot enter, it was done by using equipment mounted on two-wheelers.
In the next stage, the BMC aims to integrate other civic departments too. In addition, the civic body has also committed to cover all civic properties under Unique Indentification Digit (UID) by December 15. UID is touted as one-point solution to all queries. Under the project, each building is given a unique 15-digit number to which data regarding all services such as water supply, property tax bill and past queries among others are attached.
The unique ID to each building will help the BMC assess lack of services in wards in the city. The civic body will be able to assess if basic services such as water supply, community toilets haven’t reached the citizens.
