Zooming in on Old Delhi,monuments to be filmed,monitored

“The complete project for Delhi is estimated to cost Rs 20 crore and digital mapping of monuments is an important part of this,” Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation managing director Savitur Prasad told Newsline. “We hope to conserve and protect our heritage through this initiative.”

Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation was set up by the Delhi government in May 2008 to restore the area’s heritage sites.

The present project is a subset of the Delhi State Spatial Data Infrastructure,which will eventually map the entire city for real-time monitoring. An initiative of the Delhi government,the Survey of India has also been engaged to work out the details.

The project has a March 2010 deadline.

As part of the project,Prasad said,all 1,200 monuments will be surveyed and 3-dimensional digital imaging will be done to prepare a final database. “This will help monitor encroachment — any alterations or damage caused to monuments can then be easily detected through a change detection method,” Prasad said. “The database will also be available online for heritage enthusiasts and visitors — they can take a virtual heritage tour of the city.”

Field and aerial photographs will form the basic input after which 3D texturing will be done,Prasad said. “Each corner of the monument has to be covered and images will be formed. Cameras with GPS will be used to take photos to determine the time,latitude,longitude and distance from the monument to rule out human error in the mapping system.”

Once the basic format is in place,63 high-resolution cameras,which can shoot up to 5 km,will be positioned at 10 monitoring centres across the city to keep a constant vigil on the monuments.

Prasad said,“The digital mapping work is on and Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation has completed mapping 273 monuments. Once all the monuments are covered,the final format will be sent to the Ministry of Defence for approval.”

WHAT PROJECT MEANS

* 1,200 monuments to be surveyed and 3D digital imaging done to prepare final database

* Field and aerial photographs to form basic input

* 3D texturing to be done later

* Each corner of each monument to be covered and images formed with GPS-enabled cameras

* Once basic format in place,63 high-resolution cameras that can shoot up to 5 km to be positioned at 10 monitoring centres across city

* There will keep 24×7 vigil on all 1,200 monuments