ISRO satellites will map Bengaluru, solving city’s pothole problem

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) have come under the flak for potholes, the bad state of roads and flooding after the rains, but all is not lost.

The Civic Body has called in the might of space technology from Indian Space Research Organisation, to deal the host of problems the body is struggling with- from encroachers and property owners violating building bye-laws to encroachment of lakes, continuous and illegal dumping of garbage, SWD’s and condition of roads, among others.

This is a first for any municipal corporation in the country,  BBMP has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in 2016 and this data analysis will start from January 2019 the  pictures will be taken from the satellite and sent.

All 198 wards will be getting a spatial information to BBMP officials, every six months. Geographical Information System (GIS) will capture and analyse the data. BBMP’s will also receive satellite analysis to match properties in real time with BBMP’s and if there are any errors found the correction can be made in property details.

ISRO’s geoportal, bhuvan will help BBMP officials, through a mobile app, based on which Finance and Revenue and Information Technology Departments of BBMP can physically verify it.

A official from BBMP said that,” ISRO  will send us pictures and geographical data with in BBMP wards and by this the construction of property will also effect, if the owner has said that he has a permission of building 5 floors but he has built more than that then satellite will update us regarding it”.

ISRO has started training BBMP officials to analyse data and this will go for another two months. Manoj Kumar Meena,special commissioner said that, The entire system will be ready by December, ISRO has already started taking the pictures from satellite and send us few during the workshop, and ny january the analysis will be started. We can expect lot of changes to happen around in tax generation, revenue collection, preventing of encroachments and violations by January”.