Civic body clears decks for digital mapping of city

The municipal corporation on Wednesday set the wheels of the comprehensive digital mapping of the city with Geographical Information System (GIS) in motion.

The municipal corporation on Wednesday set the wheels of the comprehensive digital mapping of the city with Geographical Information System (GIS) in motion.

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The Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) and the Science and Technology Park, Pune, will be the consultants for the project, expected to be complete by January 2011.

“This will be the most comprehensive digital documentation of Mumbai. We will map houses and public utilities with exact dimensions,” said Additional Municipal Commissioner Anil Diggikar, after the civic standing committee cleared the proposal.

The digital mapping will help the BMC implement the new property tax regime that promises to lower the tax burden for those living in the suburbs.

In January 2009, the state legislature passed a bill allowing the BMC to impose property tax based on the capital value of properties.

The GIS system will help the civic administration to ascertain the exact number and dimensions of houses and charge property tax accurately.

“The mapping will be done by NIIT GIS Limited. We have appointed Professor BK Mohan from IIT-B as a consultant,” said a civic official.

The Science and Technology Park, which has done similar projects for Rajkot and Pimpri-Chinchwad corporations, would be the peer reviewer.