Deep Bird' takes wings to survey city lands

Deep Bird' takes wings to survey city lands

The hi-tech survey gives a clearer picture of forests, roads and waterbodies, reports Bosky Khanna

Bosky Khanna

The government is now using the latest state-of-the-art technology and two dimensional maps to survey land on the city outskirts for future development.
These technological advances are being used to avoid property disputes and technical hiccups.
The Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) had last year submitted a map to the town planning director on five areas — Anekal, Hoskote, Kanakapura, Magadi and Nelamangala, using total station survey (TSS) method.
But now the BMRDA has taken a step ahead and is using the Quick Bird technology.
The Quick Bird database has been designed and developed by Digital Globe of the USA. It is much more accurate when compared to TSS for land survey and assessments, a senior BMRDA official told DNA.
Since there is limited human intervention, the probabilities of errors in Quick Bird are limited unlike in other physical surveys.
The data obtained is used by the town planning department and survey department.
Data procured by TSS is expensive and time consuming. Thus to obtain more accurate data, the BMRDA has shifted to Quick Bird. Though compared to other modes of assessment used by other civic agencies TSS too is well advanced, he added.
TSS is a computer savvy technology; it includes 2D maps, and is much better than the physical survey.
Since it is a comprehensive map, it helps in reducing property disputes. It also helps the survey and settlement department. But the data procured through Quick Bird is much advanced with a base map ratio of 1:500 and 1:1000.
It gives a clearer picture of the rivers, other waterbodies, forests, roads etc. The database also gives a clear picture of the surrounding areas which was difficult through TSS.
"We are now procuring the Quick Bird Data through the National Remote Sensing Agency, headquartered in Hyderabad. The first set of information from the NRSA for Bangalore Metropolitan regions will be obtained by March end and the second set will be obtained within three months. Development of these townships is important as they direct the growth of the City and we do not want any room for errors, thus these two advanced technologies are being used," the official added.