Mobile app to track growth of trees

The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) will soon launch a mobile application to maintain a count of trees and monitor their growth, officials familiar with the matter said

The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) will soon launch a mobile application to maintain a count of trees and monitor their growth, officials familiar with the matter said.

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Subhash Yadav, divisional forest officer and head of urban environment division, GMDA, said, “We are starting work on counting of trees in Gurugram. An application has been created for this purpose also and the numbering of the trees will be done through a tender process. This data of every tree will be uploaded on the application for further monitoring, helping us in the creation of a database. Once the application is functional, every citizen will be able to check the number of trees on a particular road.”

An official said that the application has been developed by the geographic information system (GIS) division of the GMDA and is being tested at present.

Sultan Singh, chief geospatial officer and head of the GIS division for GMDA, said that the application will be used to monitor the growth of trees in green belts and is being trialled at present.

“We are testing the application and should be able to launch soon. Due to rising Covid-19 cases, all resources are being used for monitoring that, but the application for monitoring the growth of trees is ready. With this application, citizens can also upload details (related to growth or health) of any particular tree. The system will have details like name, species, the diameter of the trunk, photograph,” said Singh.

He added that after all the details have been added to the database, an intervention to improve the green belts in the city will be done on a bi-yearly basis.

The authority has invited tenders for the project, and proposals can be submitted by May 7. Once a company is selected, counting of trees will be done over a period of two years.