Gorakhpur strives for E-Governance through GIS that will increase transparency and accountability and reduce complacency in the system.
Urban planning in India has its roots in the Mohenjodaro
and Harappa civilizations. The ruins of these ancient
civilisations are ample proof of the sophisticated planning and management in that era. British, in India, were pioneers of the current system of Urban Management and till date virtually the same system is followed with minor amendments.
With the advent of information technology and modern day pressures on land, the fundamentals of public service delivery, demand, a new system more in sync with the problems of this age. Electronic Governance (EG), which started off with the computerisation of back office operations, has now gone beyond this basic feature. It has redefined the fundamentals of work and speed and intends to bring about a major change in how the Government operates not only in urban India but globally as well.
GIS has the potential to link data visually on a common denominator, analyse it and make predictions for the future. Maps are essential in Urban Planning and EG through GIS has the potential to revolutionise city governance. While initiatives have been emanating from various directions in EG and GIS, they are often at cross-purposes, losing their relevance in their repetitiveness.
All urban planning work encompasses the city at the macro-scale and the household at the micro-scale. Thus a map showing all households, roads, lanes and by-lanes of an urban area would be an essential starting point for a GIS. Once the base map is digitised, all relevant information at the household, mohalla, ward and city levels can be fed into the map or corresponding databases for analysis and predictions. Use of remote sensing imageries and/or aerial photogrammetry will simplify updating the base map and aim for greater real world accuracy.
The Census Bureau, Government of India, collects data right up to the household level. Since 1991, it has been dividing households’ in urban areas into groups of 125 each, mapping them and collecting data. It completed its second such exercise during the 2001 census. This data in digital format promises to provide all urban local bodies and many government departments with a ready database for planning purposes, but there is a need to go about this process in a systematic manner.
It is the prerogative of the city administration to take an initiative and have the base map prepared. As is evident from Figure 1, it will be the biggest beneficiary from such an exercise. The Urban Local Body (ULB) should be given the responsibility for preparation of this map, since it is the first department to receive notification of additions of property. This system will have to be either online or connected by Wide Area Network (WAN), so that updates on the original map are timely available to other departments.
Image 1
It is at this stage that choosing appropriate software and hardware for GIS assumes utmost importance. A software that allows cross-linking of data, visual representation of data by a click on the map, building topology and tin modeling should be used. If due to monetary constraints such software is not affordable, then software that allows free conversion across various GIS platforms should be used.
Once the ULB has prepared the base map and attached the Census records to each property, the map is ready for use. Other departments can attach their data in the form of layers over this base map. A list of such departments and their usage is given below:
The Urban Local Body (ULB)
- Property tax base of the ULB will increase whenever a new property is added to the base map. It can maintain a record of billing, arrears and even crosscheck-assessed value of properties.
- Water Supply – Accurate calculations of water supplied (lpcd) to each section of the city can be made. The pipeline network, its dia, type, incidence of breakage, tube wells, overhead tanks and their supply can be mapped. Gradually, sensors can be installed at each bend in the main pipeline, so that location of leakages can be pin pointed for facilitating instant repairs and monitoring water quality.
- Sewerage – It’s outflow, treatment, breakages can be mapped and monitoring done, as above.
- Solid waste – Amount generated; optimum distance for carts, trolleys and trucks can be calculated. The distance to dumping sites can be optimised.
- Roads – Quality and type can1 be shown as a layer on the map. A visual record of repairs can also be maintained.
- Street Lights – Working or not working and their quality can be shown via maps. Sensors can even be attached to each lamppost for facilitating repairs and replacements.
- Health – Incidence of malaria and other diseases can be mapped making it faster to pin point the origin of a disease. Number of births and deaths can be mapped; number of hospital beds/person calculated so that more can be established, where needed.
- Municipal Education – The number of children/school can be calculated and new education centers established where they are required the most.
Revenue Department
This department maintains land records. If these records are clubbed with the property map of the ULB, it will give the exact location and size of properties. The valuation of plots will be easy and appropriate stamp duty can be collected at the time of sale of property.