GMDA procures ground penetrating radar

In order to ensure that permissions for shifting utilities for infrastructure projects such as roads, drains and other real estate projects is taken speedily, the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) on Thursday said that it has procured the first ground penetrating radar (GPR) system

In order to ensure that permissions for shifting utilities for infrastructure projects such as roads, drains and other real estate projects is taken speedily, the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) on Thursday said that it has procured the first ground penetrating radar (GPR) system.

New Delhi, India - Sept. 22, 2022: Excavation work underway at Urban Extension Road II (UER II) near Kapashera Chowk on Dwarka Expressway, in New Delhi, India, on Thursday, September 22, 2022. (Photo by Vipin Kumar/ Hindustan Times) **To go with Risha Chitlangia’s story** (Hindustan Times)

GMDA officials said that the radar will help in the detection of underground utilities such as electricity cables, sewer lines, drainage pipes and optical cables, among others. It will also help in reducing damage to these utilities during excavation and construction work, they added.

The GPR procured by the authority has a penetration depth of 10 metres, GMDA officials said.

GMDA chief executive officer (CEO) Sudhir Rajpal said that the radar will assist in the scanning of existing underground utilities, which is an integral aspect in the planning of infrastructure development. “Prior knowledge about the presence of these utilities will reduce the scope of any damage and also speed up the work,” he said.

GMDA officials also said that the radar will help in expediting permissions sought by the government agencies for building infrastructure and other constructions, which are often delayed. It will also help in planning the laying of new utilities. They also said that to give permissions on GMDA right of way (ROW) on roads, the radar can help their teams to identify the existing underground utilities present on the sites.

A GMDA spokesperson said that engineering teams often encounter pipelines, drains and other structures, which have been laid underground decades earlier, and this hampers ongoing work. “We will train our personnel on how to work with the radar soon,” he added.