All household and commercial complex in Coimbatore, Tiruchi and Madurai Corporations will soon have a unique digital identity number, apart from their

The new Geographic Information System or GIS identity numbers will help residents and officials get a virtual view of their buildings and the entire panoply of details of their property, water and sewerage tax assessment and payment dues. The GIS number to be assigned to each household will carry the corporation ward number followed by an alphanumeric code.

In a pilot project, the Tamil Nadu Government’s Municipal Administration department has assigned the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to design software for GIS mapping of Coimbatore, Tiruchi and Madurai Corporations besides Rajapalayam in Virudhunagar district and Gobichettipalayam in Erode. The TCS for the first time in the country has taken up this project in Tamil Nadu.

GIS is a technology that captures, stores and manages a whole range of data and map of a specific location. “The project will make it easier for us to provide basic services without delay and corruption can be ruled out in the assessment of property tax,” said Coimbatore corporation commissioner, Anshul Mishra. As of now, bill collectors in local bodies largely decide the quantum of property tax and other utility charges. And if there is a leak or block in the water or sewer lines, residents have to wait for days for officials to inspect and plug it. But with the e-mapping or GIS data, officials can view the floor space of each flat in an apartment on the computer screens and engineers can get a full scan of the length and breadth of the water and sewer lines to order remedial measures.

Also, builders and residents applying for building plan approval need not wait for months for getting clearance from the town planning officials. “First, a GIS mapping of the road networks, water and sewer pipelines and all properties including government properties will be done. After creating the base map based on the data provided by the local bodies, a team from the TCS will inspect every property and household to personally cross-verify the data. Then, a web-based data will be designed,” explained TCS Project Manager, A Sumathi.

The field survey team assisted by civic engineers and bill collectors will visit each household including flats in apartment complexes to check the baseline data provided by the corporations and municipalities on plinth area, carpet space, old survey numbers, water and sewer pipelines.

In Coimbatore, the field verification of the base data is underway in five wards of the corporation, while in Tiruchi and Madurai, the baseline data collection is yet to be completed. The e-mapping is likely to be completed in Coimbatore by this May, while in Tiruchi and Madurai it will be ready by October 2009, said an official.