GIS to help you know about your property

Wednesday, 28 September 2016 05:06 administrator
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The Hindu        28.09.2016    

GIS to help you know about your property

It can inform people whether a land is located in residential area or not

VItal information:Details about properties in the Chennai metropolitan area can be obtained on the CMDA site.— Photo: SPecIAL ARRANGEMENT
VItal information:Details about properties in the Chennai metropolitan area can be obtained on the CMDA site.— Photo: SPecIAL ARRANGEMENT

Nearly 12 years after it was proposed, a GIS-based system to inform city residents about the classification of their property — whether it is located in a residential zone or in a prohibited area — has now been put in place, though it is currently on a test run.

Visitors to the website of the city’s planning agency, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority —www.cmdachennai.gov.in— can click on the link leading to the system based on the Geographical Information System. Land owners and also prospective owners who seek additional details can key in details to find out its classification. People who do not know the survey numbers too can establish the details, sources said.

Details about property in Chennai Metropolitan Area that is spread over 1,189 sq.km and which includes Chennai Corporation and 16 municipalities, 20 town panchayats and 214 village panchayats can be obtained on the site. The metropolitan area includes part of Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts.

“Promoters do not reveal details about the exact classification of the land in which their plot is situated. People come to our head office in Egmore or even apply through Right to Information Act. We wanted to share all the information about Chennai’s land use in public domain and hence the GIS,” explained staff of the city planning agency.

The land classification details along with the survey number have been superimposed on Google Earth map, making it possible for people to find about the status immediately. “There are several restricted areas – land belonging to the Defence Ministry, notified areas by the Archaeological Survey of India, Reserved Forests, Water bodies, Coastal Regulatory Zone and others in addition to land earmarked for development projects,” a staff said, adding that people could easily cross-check in the GIS if the property they want to buy came under any of this classification.

Evolving an urban information with various departments, beginning with the creation of a “common base map” was planned as early as 2004. It was proposed that GIS would lead to faster access to data. Sources said some of them were trained in a post-graduate course in GIS and a dedicated team was on the job for many years before actual work began about 30 months ago, the first among any planning agency in the country.