A sophisticated and precise mapping project, introduced in Delhi on Thursday, promises to do away with the indiscriminate digging of city roads.

Simply put, the system can provide accurate, three-dimensional pictures of the city’s surface and its undergrounds, to a depth of 30 feet. So there will be less guesswork now when officials are groping to fix a fault underneath.

Announced at the India International Trade Fair by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, this high-resolution mapping system is called the Delhi State Spatial Data Infrastructure Project and cost the state Rs 120 crore. To begin with, the project will release geo-spatial information for the New Delhi District, and will eventually include all Delhi districts.

Secretary of Information Technology, Delhi, Savitur Prasad said: “For the first time in India, we have done high-resolution aerial, above ground and underground mapping. The project, to start with, will make this information available to all government departments. Its benefits include increasing productivity and efficiency while reducing costs.”

An official closely involved with the project said: “Government departments can use the data to locate faults in the city’s underground utilities right down to the last centimetre. That way, various departments can collectively and precisely dig up a road. Naturally, that will reduce costs as duplication can be prevented.”

Dikshit said, “The system will provide a clear vision for urban planning and easy monitoring of ownership of properties, tenancy and land use, and prepare us for disasters.” With precise, high-resolution maps that provide digital data right down to individual buildings, one of the project’s expected benefits include settlement of property ownership disputes and curbing illegal encroachments. “Since the maps will be backed by data from advanced, wireless cameras put up around the Capital, it will help curb illegal encroachment on government land,” an official explained.

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