The cyber city of India, Gurugram has announced that Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) will use a geographic information system (GIS) to track the city’s infrastructural development.
According to the GMDA, there have been rampant land encroachments in the city, so with the approval of the Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal, GMDA will use satellite images of the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) to monitor encroachments and illegal constructions.
The official was quoted saying that, “Once we have the data from the system, we will prepare a matrix depicting the urbanization patterns such as the speed of development, its pace, and direction. Then, the matrix will be shared with the government departments to understand the development and encroachments in the city so that they can formulate conducive policies for managing the resources allocation.”
The official also stated that the GIS system would also help identify the recently lost water bodies; along with that, they will identify the areas in and around housing buildings that are likely to be affected by flooding situations during heavy rainfall.
GDMA is reportedly working on the procurement of drones for its multiple GIS projects, under one of the GIS projects, which is approved by the chief minister, the development authority is planning to set up weather stations across Gurugram and Faridabad region to keep accurate records of temperature, wind speed, and rainfall through the day.
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Use of geospatial technology in city infrastructure development
To develop a city and run it smoothly, the city development authorities use GIS-based systems in site selection and monitoring, which are perfect for setting up industry or healthcare facility and waste disposal and water management. The decision-makers of using geospatial tools like drones, AI-based systems, location-intelligent tools in areas like agriculture, development, management of infrastructure, and in monitoring weather changes.
Apart from development purposes, the GIS tools are seen as valuable tools for maintaining datasets of the existing and developing infrastructures, road conditions in and around the cities. Thus the authorities can take decisions in the future to make a sustainable smart city. Furthermore, satellite imagery with mapping tools also helps to improve the quality of the environment, to keep a check on illegal encroachments, inland, and forest resource management.
The Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) uses a GIS dashboard to monitor and predict the rainfall across the state and identify potential flooding areas by rain sensors installed at various locations that provide real-time data. The data captured by the sensors help the informed decision-makers to take action in advance.
Recently, the Government of Punjab launched two specific GIS portals, the Punjab GIS and Village GIS portals, to boost the State Government’s efforts in day-to-day governance, policy framework, and delivery of public utility services using GIS technology.
Also Read: Tropical cyclone risk assessment using GIS mapping
