Andhra Pradesh, India, 25 September 2006: The Secunderabad Cantonment in the State of Andhra Pradesh has embarked upon a project to prepare a Cantonment Development Plan (CDP) using GIS, satellite data from the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) and technical help from the Institute of Electronic Governance (IEG).
The project, waiting approval of the SCB, is expected to come up for discussion in the forthcoming board meeting. According to a senior Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) official, the first hindrance was lack of a proper map of the Cantonment. SCB still depends on a map drawn by the British over 100 years ago!
“You ask for the total length of roads in SCB, or even from where the Picket Nala starts, the official response is mostly a sheepish grin. There is no accurate profile of residents or residential and commercial buildings,” an official reveals. “In spite of over 100 years of existence, it is not time-tested data but mere field experience that has kept SCB afloat,” he adds.
The CDP is expected not only to straighten these bottlenecks but also to make administration a smoother affair. “Office automation, which every other Government department did long ago, is in bits and pieces here. That, along with the SCB website, will be updated,” the official says.
