The Palike invited tenders for GIS mapping of 71 wards in November 2006.

However, even more than one year after tenders were invited, the Palike has not completed the task of selection of the consortium to take up work.

The Palike thought of GIS (Geographical Information Systems) in the year 2004. The main objective behind taking up the programme was to help planning and monitoring of various projects of the Palike.

 As many as 15 features, including road, properties, storm water drains, cross drainage works, street lights, bus shelters, and sidewalks were covered. The first phase of works is about to be completed.

Similarly, the Palike called for tenders to take up support services in the remaining 71 wards of the erstwhile BMP in November 2006. As many as 10 consortiums responded to the call. A high-level technical committee headed by the director of Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) gave its opinion on the tender proposals. But the Palike had not finalised the tenders to extend work orders so far.

According to a senior officer in the Palike, the increase in the total area of the Palike was the reason for the delay. As BMP was converted to BBMP, the total area of the Palike increased to more than 800 square kms.

Increased expenditure
A section of senior officers felt that instead of taking up all 15 features in the second phase, concentrating on property details would be enough. Otherwise, implementing municipal GIS would take a long time. But this plan was contested by many other officers in the Palike. A senior officer said the Palike is spending nearly Rs 1.30 lakh per sq kms for GIS mapping in the second phase, whereas it was only Rs 54,000 per sq km in the first phase.

Within three years, the expenditure has more than doubled. If the Palike takes up GIS mapping in new areas at the earliest, it will be better. Otherwise, it would cause more expenditure in future, the officer said.

Special Commissioner B S Ramprasad said that finalising o tenders has been delayed due to software-related issues in the first phase of the programme. “We are holding a meeting with experts from NRSA regarding software issues in a couple of days. Once the issues are settled we can go ahead with the second phase of works. Later we will decide how many features should be covered in the second phase and in the new areas as well”, he said.