Ghaziabad authority plans geo-tagging to detect illegal constructions

Geo-tagging is the process of adding geographical information to various media in the form of metadata. The data usually consists of coordinates such as latitudes and longitudes, but may even include bearings, altitudes, distances and place names.

Uttar Pradesh is planning to adopt geo-tagging to detect illegal constructions, especially in unauthorised colonies. The decision was conveyed to officials of various development authorities, including Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA), during a high-level meeting held in Lucknow on Monday.

A view of New Hindon Vihar colony, in Ghaziabad. The GDA plans to use geotagging technique to locate illegal constructions. (Sakib Ali / HT Photo)

The GDA has nearly 321 unauthorised colonies in its area and has procured maps from the Remote Sensing Applications Centre (RSAC) for comparing them with maps available with it locally, for detecting constructions in unauthorised colonies. The officials during the meeting in Lucknow were told to explore geo-tagging of colonies under all its eight zones.

“We have procured the maps for about 65 sub-zones from the RSAC and these have been handed over to the zonal engineers. They will compare it with maps available with them to detect illegal constructions. But this task is tedious and time consuming, apart form being a costly affair. We have been asked to get the geo-tagging done for locations for better usage of information available with the authority,” Kanchan Verma, vice-chairperson, GDA, said.

“With the help of geo-tagging, we can get the exact displays of illegal constructions and it can be monitored by senior officers with the help of pictures. We are also considering a land audit of different areas so that acquired land, residential land etc., will be identified. Then, we will be able to check for encroachments and/or illegal constructions,” Verma said.

For past several years, the authority and state officials have been trying to regularise unauthorised colonies but the cost of development of infrastructure and regularisation is huge, thereby proving to be a deterrent.

The authority had sent a proposal to the state administration for regularising 48 unauthorised colonies but the cost of regularisation has turned out to be too high. The authority officials said 48 colonies were identified in 2009 which had proper land use and basic infrastructure facilities.

“We gave a presentation for two colonies during the meeting. We also raised the issue of high costs involved in the process. The state officials said they will reconsider the regularisation, as the per-unit regularisation cost is too high for residents to bear. The are several charges such as external development charges, compounding charges and illegal constructions charges, etc., involved in the whole process. The state officials are considering a reduction in charges so that regularisation costs come down,” Verma said.

To curb the growth of unauthorised colonies, the Ghaziabad district administration recently banned registries in such areas. A list of 321 unauthorised colonies was provided to the district administration by the authority for due action.