The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Community data base: digital mapping takes off

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Nov 17, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Community data base: digital mapping takes off

T. Nandakumar

Project revived after being held up for two years
Survey done in Kanhirampara ward for the pilot project

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The City Corporation has completed the first phase of a ward-level digital mapping programme taken up with assistance from the London borough of Newham under a Twin City pact. The project is aimed at creating a community database for effective policy-making and resource management using modern tools like Geographical Information System (GIS).

The Centre for Environment Development (CED), a city-based NGO tasked with the implementation of the programme, carried out a field survey covering 2000-odd households in the Kanhirampara ward selected for the pilot project. The data generated by the survey was used to analyse the socio-economic condition of the households. CED also prepared 1:1000 scale maps on the GIS platform.

According to Babu Ambat, executive director, CED, the socio-economic data would be incorporated into the GIS maps. He said the digital maps would be a powerful tool in targeted service delivery, especially poverty alleviation programmes taken up by the City Corporation.

Initial setback

The mapping programme was renewed earlier this year after being bogged down for more than two years by failure to mobilise technical and manpower resources. The Newham Council had committed an assistance of 40,000 pounds to the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation under the agreement.

The Information Kerala Mission (IKM) was initially selected as the implementing agency and the Sasthamangalam ward identified for the pilot project. A three-member delegation including former Corporation secretary T.K. Raveendran and officials representing the IKM and the All India Institute of Local Self Government visited Newham to receive training in basic skills.

A senior Corporation functionary said the decision to change the implementing agency was necessitated by the inordinate delay in putting systems in place. “The project could be revived only because of the persistent interest shown by the Newham Council,” he said. The AIILSG was also left out of the picture in the revised project. “The visit proved to be a totally useless exercise as all the three officials are no longer associated with the project,” a civic official said.

Under the revised project, the ward for the pilot project was changed from Sasthamangalam to Kanhirampara to accommodate the need for better representation of economically backward families.

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