The Times of India 16.11.2010
Google image helps civic body identify illegal Dahisar structure
MUMBAI: The BMC has found a unique way to use high resolution satellite images on Google Earth, which has always faced the danger of being misused by terror groups, to its benefit. For the first time, with the help of images from Google, the corporation will on Tuesday demolish an illegal structure on the Link Road in Dahisar (W). The satellite imagery also proved in the court what the BMC had been alleging; that the 2,000 sq ft multiple-storey structure was built without permission and in violation of Coastal Regulation Zone guidelines. The court on Monday lifted the stay on a previous demolition order served in October under Section 351 of the BMC Act.
The owner of the private structure had claimed that his building was included in a local census carried out in 1978. He had even produced documentary evidence from the collector's office in support of the claim. "But when we compared images from 2000 with those in 2010, provided to us by a citizen's group, we found that the land was vacant at the time. Even the gap between the land and an adjacent building remained the same in the images from 2010," said ward officer Parag Masurkar.
The local ward (R/N) has always been taking the lead in using hi-tech images to map encroachment in its localities. Taking a leaf out of the ward's work, municipal commissioner Swadheen Kshatriya had last year asked its officials to go hi-tech and map the number of slums and encroachment on the city's footpaths and roads. As a sample case, the Dahisar ward office showed how it used Google Earth imagery to spot the rise in squatters at Ganpat Patil Nagar in Dahisar. The difference between the number of structures existing in the slum in 2002 and those that got added by 2009 was marked by the demolition squad. As many as 5,000 new structures were found in the area.
The latest action in the ward will give a further boost to the need for having such images in the BMC for future demolition drives, officials said. "This is a landmark attempt and would prove that it is about time BMC used this hi-tech technology to tackle the menace of illegal construction mushrooming in different parts of the city," said Masurkar.
