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The garden city blooms ….with GIS projects


BMTC GPS/GIS
GIS applications for route planning and vehicle tracking have been implemented in the West. Such an application for the tracking of private buses operating under the BMTC is being proposed. The use of Global Positioning System to monitor the location of the buses and generate appropriate bills based on distance traveled is on the anvil. The pilot project is to track 200 buses, which will then be expanded to 2000 buses. Provision for interfacing the data with the GIS of Bangalore City, being developed by ISRO, is also being planned.

BWSSB GIS
BWSSB has planned to develop a GIS to map and monitor the water supply and sewage systems in the Bangalore region, day to day maintenance of the system will be enhanced by developing a complete database on the technical components of the network. The system would also help to plan extensions to the network. A French consulting firm is developing the system.

Sathyanagar Layout GIS
Sathyanagar Layout near Banaswadi Main Road, Bangalore was selected by the Centre for Environment Education (CEE, South), Bangalore for carrying out improvements to the environment. In a related project, a Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) of the area was to be prepared.

For carrying out the activities, physical plan (base plan) of the layout and socio economic information about the residents of the layout was necessary. Instead of following the traditional method of preparing physical plan (carry out a physical survey and draw it on a hard copy), a computerised GIS was developed. The advantages of such a GIS would lead to easy retrieval & modification of data and preparation of outputs. Other advantages of GIS software like spatial analysis (buffering, overlay, queries, etc.) and non-spatial analysis (basic statistics like standard deviation, mean, sum, etc.) can be availed. Preparation of thematic maps that would aid in identifying problems & communicating with the stakeholders is facilitated.

A GIS system for the Sathyanagar Layout using the desktop mapping GIS software Maplnfo 4.0 was implemented by TIDE for CEE. The GIS of the Sathyanagar contains both physical & socio-economic data that can further be used by CEE for preparation of CDP. Base map at 1:500 scale contains building data and shows the footprints of the building. Location of physical infrastructure such as roads, taps, streetlights, garbage bins are given on the map. Also included in the database are photographs of the lay out taken at some locations. Contours are also mapped.

The individual houses were mapped and the socio-economic-physical survey was linked to the map data, so that spatial analysis could be carried out to give an understanding of any spatial patterns.

Plane-table survey was carried out to prepare maps at 1:500 scale. All the aboveground features as mentioned below were surveyed & mapped.

Entities surveyed and mapped:
  • Footprint of houses and other buildings
  • Roads inside the layout
  • Above ground services like drains, etc.
  • Other entities like trees, water taps, hand pump, stone slabs, etc.
  • Outline of the lake
  • Spot height at 5.0m interval
  • Immediate surroundings
  • Socio-economic mapping was done to obtain the following details at household level.
  • Number of dwellers
  • Age-wise population data
  • Occupation
  • Physical condition of buildings
  • Income
  • Literacy
  • Use of existing spaces, etc.
The GIS is being extensively used by CEE for its activities in the layout. CEE is presently using the system to plan a drainage system for the area.

Malleswaram GIS
The Geographical Information System created for Malleswaram ward contains both map and attribute data of all the parcels that come under Malleswaram, Ward-7 of Bangalore City. It contains map and attribute data of roads, features on the roads, landmarks, and other services. These data were computerised using one of the standard GIS software, MapInfo so that the final product is in a form useful for solid waste management, planning and monitoring. The files were converted into Arcview format so that the information can be viewed by means of freeware available for viewing, such as Arcviewl.0 and Arc Explorer. This project was carried out in co-ordination with Mythri Sarva Seva Samithi and Bangalore City Corporation (BCC). This data is also available with Centre for Science and Technology, Malleswaram, and Swabhimana, Malleswaram. (For more details refer to GIS@development March-April, 1998 issue.) It is hoped that these efforts would act as forerunners for such similar efforts throughout India.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the help of the GIS group at TIDE, Metropolitan Commissioner, BMRDA, Commissioner BDA, GEE, Swabhimana, and Waste Wise who were involved in the execution of the projects mentioned in this article. We also thank all our colleagues, who helped us to compile this document.

The use of GPS to monitor the location of the buses and generate appropriate bills based on distance traveled is on the anvil. The pilot project is to track 200 buses, which will then be expanded to 2000 buses.

Authors:
Sreeshaila G., Project Manager, TIDE. He is a Post Graduate in Electronics and Communication Engineering from University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Bangalore, Bangalore University. He is presently working in the areas of Geographical Information Systems Development, Software Applications development and System Administration.

Sathish Selvakumar, Project Manager, TIDE. Sathish is an architect and urban planner. He is currently working on projects in GIS, and urban governance issues. He obtained his B. Arch (Honors) from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, and his Masters in Urban Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA.

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