The next one year would see entire network infrastructure and software packages being implemented at KWA offices across the State, thus making it the first public utility service to go fully online.

The important software expansion will be of Advanced Billing, Accounting and Collection Utility System (ABACUS), which was implemented in the Thiruvananthapuram Division in January, 2008. Now the consumers can pay water charges in any collection centre under the division. When fully implemented across the State, consumers can pay water charges at any collection centre.

‘’Now it has only consumer billing, covering over 1.8 lakh consumers of the Thiruvananthapuram division. We are adding 10 new modules to the existing ABACUS. This enhanced ABACUS will be the one that will be rolled out to the 192 centres in the State (excluding the centres in Thiruvananthapuram), thus covering over 12 lakh consumers,’’ a KWA official said.

The existing data in the systems in Kochi and Kozhikode Corporations and various municipalities will migrate to the enhanced ABACUS. Another software that will be rolled out is the Complaint Redressal System, which is already in place in the Thiruvananthapuram division. It is being extended to 33 more KWA Revenue Divisions.

The Project Monitoring System software, currently being used for the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) project, will be used for other projects also in future. The modules for Employee Information System and Financial Accounting System are in the testing phase. The hardware roll-out will mainly have the expansion of the network infrastructure. Connectivity will be extended to the 440 offices of the KWA in 202 locations with Kerala State Wide Area Network (KSWAN) as the backbone. Now KSWAN has connectivity up to the block level.

‘’The price bids for the network expansion have already been opened. It will take nearly 10 months for the complete execution of the same. The tenders for server infrastructure and ac-

To expedite the building plan approval process, BBMP is adopting a new software to digitise planning approval. The software ensures scrutiny of building plans in short time and the approval process will take just 10 days, against the 30 days that it took earlier.

“In the present system, the town planning department functions from all eight zonal offices in the manual verification method. With the implementation of the software, we can cut on the delays and inaccuracies. The system is already adopted in Pune and few other cities. The Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) has agreed to fund the project initially,” said BBMP commissioner Bharatlal Meena, in an interaction programme at the Express office on Friday.

“The process is expected to start functioning in the next 15 days. Public can get the building plan in a digital format and once that is loaded in the system, it will immediately give the details of boundaries and outer boundaries and calculate the floor area ratio (FAR), check setback details, he explained.

“We are in the stage of procuring the software as per our requirement. The staff will be trained in using the software.

Also, BBMP is planning to take the process online in the later stage wherein people can at least submit the plan from their home,” said an official from BBMP's town planning department.

“However, BBMP officials would also go to the construction sites to cross-check the facts after the submission of the plan,” the official added.

HOW IT IS USEFUL

● Engineers who check the details on their computers, do not really have to go through all the designs and drawings because the software checks different aspects of the building plan while applying the rules.

● Anything wrong in the planning can be identified and rectified on the spot.

● Helps reducing corruption and increasing transparency of the scrutiny process.

● The plan approval system through e-governance initiatives will help to check different aspects of the building plan, scrutinise applications and give info about violations, if any.