Navi Mumbai LiDAR property survey extended to January end

The first-ever Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) property survey being conducted in Navi Mumbai has been delayed due to some technical reasons. Now, the ₹21.90-crore survey has been extended till January end

Navi Mumbai: The first-ever Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) property survey being conducted in Navi Mumbai has been delayed due to some technical reasons. Now, the ₹21.90-crore survey has been extended till January end.

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The survey is being taken up to help the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) update details of all properties in the city to prepare tax bills for the next financial year.

As per the NMMC’s records, there are around 3 lakh properties in the city. However, the officials concerned said that the LiDAR survey could reveal around 75,000 more properties. There are several properties that have been rented, but only regular property tax is collected from them, leading to heavy loss of revenue for the civic body. There are also properties that have expanded but are not on record.

Thane municipal commissioner, Abhijit Bangar, who has the additional charge of the NMMC presently, has assured that he will look into the issue.

Bangar, who was keen on the LiDAR survey when he was heading the NMMC, said, “I will soon visit the NMMC headquarters and hold a review meeting of the survey status. We had expected it to be completed by October end.”

“It is important that it be completed at the earliest. Otherwise, it will be a problem while preparing the property tax bills of the next financial year starting April 2023,” he added.

Speaking on the survey objective, NMMC commissioner Rajesh Narvekar said, “The increased urbanisation has led to a spurt in properties under the NMMC over the years. People have also expanded their homes. The 360-degree comprehensive survey of all properties being undertaken using geographic information system (GIS) mapping-based on LiDAR technology will ensure we have an updated and accurate record of all the properties in our jurisdiction.”

“Property tax is an important revenue source for the civic body, especially with local body tax no more under its purview. Ensuring that every property in the city is recorded will enable the civic body to increase its revenue through property tax, which is targeted at ₹804.48 crore this year.”

Narvekar stated, “Since the NMMC was established in 1992, there has been a rise in the properties that have come up in the city. However, no survey of these properties has ever been conducted. If the latest technology is used for the survey, it will help ensure accurate information is collected on the number of properties, the number of units in each structure and commercial buildings.”

The NMMC commissioner said that this will ensure an increased revenue without having to hike the tax rate. “The survey will also help us plan the city better as we will have complete details of civic owned properties. The survey will give information on civic infrastructure like water pipelines, sewage lines, streetlights and various other civic amenities,” he added.

The Survey

The NMMC is undertaking two types of surveys of the properties in the city, using LiDAR technology. The first is terrestrial survey that entails going to the locations in mobile vans with light-weight scanning systems through which ground-based laser survey is undertaken to produce highly accurate 3D data.

The second survey is using drones from the sky for which requisite permissions from the central and state governments have been received.

To ensure that all GIS data collected during the survey is accurate, ground control points (GCP) are being installed at 12 locations for base station marking. It will ensure that images received from mobile LiDAR and drone surveys undergo geo reference, thereby ensuring accuracy of the data.