The Hindu : Front Page : Eye in the sky to track illegal constructions in Delhi

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 31, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

Eye in the sky to track illegal constructions in Delhi

Special Correspondent

EYEING NEW VISTAS: Union Science and Technology Minister and Chandni Chowk MP Kapil Sibal in Delhi on Monday. - PHOTO: RAMESH SHARMA

NEW DELHI: Union Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal on Monday announced plans to set up a high-tech system for real time monitoring of illegal constructions in Chandni Chowk and other areas of the Capital covered by Zone I of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. The system, to be set up at a cost of Rs. 5 crores, will involve integrated use of several state-of-the-art technologies including high-resolution satellite imagery and spatial multi-media mapping with live cameras.

According to Mr. Sibal, elevated from Minister of State to Cabinet rank in the latest reshuffle of the Union Cabinet this past Sunday, the system will be in place within six months.

Under the project, a three-dimensional base map of the zone will be prepared using satellite imagery of the zone and a ground level survey using vehicle-borne and static camera systems and global position system. Once the base map is ready, it will be used for detecting unauthorised constructions and other applications with the help of high-tech laser-based cameras fixed at strategic places in different parts of the zone. About 60 cameras are proposed to be deployed to provide for real time monitoring. As part of the project, a monitoring cell will be set up where the data from the cameras will be fed on a regular basis.

"The cameras will scan the areas around them round the clock. Any unauthorised construction will be detected immediately. None will be able to escape. Senior officials will have instant knowledge of the developments and they will not be able to pass on the blame to their juniors on the ground that they had not been informed. It will create a sense of accountability all round,'' said Mr. Sibal, who is the Member of Parliament from Chandni Chowk.

Zone I of MCD has seven wards and the areas covered include Kamla Market, Ballimaran, Darya Ganj, Bara Hindu Rao, Hauz Qazi, Bhagirath Place, Gurdwara Sis Ganj, Gali Paranthewali, Mori Gate and parts of Nai Sarak, Chawri Bazar and Khari Baoli, to Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, I.P.Estate, Nizammudin, Sundar Nagar, Jangpura, Pragati Maidan and Sarai Kale Khan.

Apart from detecting unauthorised constructions, the system will also be used for identifying land encroachments, streamlining property tax collection, and traffic and crowd management. "Besides, it will help in disaster management and provide for a more effective planning and development of the zone," added Mr. Sibal.

Mr. Sibal said the project was more in the nature of a pilot and the feedback from it would be used to fine-tune the system for application in other parts of the city and also other cities and towns across the country.

The project will be implemented in collaboration with the Russian Academy of Sciences, which has helped set up a similar system in Moscow.

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