Chennai Goes Digital To Map Properties

Civic authorities in India have relied on Geographic Information System (GIS) in executing various tasks especially in the area of property management. Mapping of properties using GIS has eliminated hassles for the government in collection of property tax and administration. 

Tamil Nadu state capital, Chennai, is not far behind either when it comes to implementing the latest technology measures for ensuring smooth administration. The revenue department of Greater Chennai Corporation will soon own a differential global positioning system (DGPS) equipment and establish a base station to measure new properties. The station will be set up on the top floor of Amma Maligai on the premises of Ripon Buildings.

In early 2016, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation had successfully implemented satellite mapping for property tax recovery in the city. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), too, recently completed GIS mapping and survey of over 8 lakh registered properties in the city.

What is GIS

The GIS is a technology for capturing, storing, analysing, managing and displaying all types of geographical data on a single map.

About the new technology

The Greater Chennai Corporation will purchase a total of 30 DGPS devices with two for each zone. It will be the first-ever urban local body in the state to do so. The civic body has sought a loan of worth Rs 20 crore for this purpose from the World Bank.

The DGPS is an enhancement to GPS which can provide location accuracy of up to 10 cm. The rover, which is like a transmitter, will be installed on four corners of the property for measurement. The DGPS used a ground-based reference system. The system will provide the coordinates of the property that will be entered through an application. The rover will send signals to the base station, that will be linked with satellites which will communicate with the Survey of India. The system has been tested on the corporation’s premises. The base station will be run by consultants, corporation engineers and staff.

The Greater Chennai Corporation recently garnered revenue worth Rs 12 crore in a span of two months using the new GIS mapping system for tracking the erring shops and commercial establishments who evaded renewal of their trade licenses for several years and payment of professional tax. The authority conducted a drone survey and door-to-door survey of all the properties and utilities across three zones viz. Adyar, Kodambakkam and Royapuram.

The corporation initiated a project in December 2017, costing Rs 6.8 crore, that involved drone and door-to-door survey and was successfully executed in 38 out of the 200 wards. It now aims to augment its revenue in property taxes by Rs 500 crore after the new initiative which ends in March 2019. Collating the data and converting them into 2D and 3D maps is a lengthy process which will take a few years.

How does this move benefit the authority?

Saves time and revenue: According to a senior revenue department official, conducting surveys through drones or manually leads to huge expenditure which is why the corporation has set its goals on digitising the properties which will not only save time but revenue as well for the government.

Ensure accuracy: The technology will help provide accurate data pertaining to property measurements and eliminate manual errors in property evaluation. Moreover, the new GIS-based process will also facilitate automatic updating of properties thus presenting a clear picture of urbanisation in the city.

Curb corruption: In addition, any fraudulent activity involving incorrect entry of measurements will be kept under check as the applications will be directly linked with the base station and diligent monitoring of all recordings will be done.

Track under-assessed properties: The system will prevent under-assessment of properties and will also track and cover all un-assessed properties across the city.

The installation of a DGPS equipment is the first step towards achieving these goals. Offices will be created in each zone for updating property information. Other departments such as land registration and Tangedco will also be linked with the new system to ensure regular monitoring of all properties.