Corporation banks on GIS mapping to meet property tax target

Corporation sources said they have received the footage from the drone survey from the Ministry of Defence after the latter scanned the content for sensitive information. 

“Survey of 300 sq km of the city has been completed, and the footage has also been vetted,” said a senior Corporation official, adding that this would be critical in augmenting the revenue due to the civic body through numerous underassessed and unassessed properties. While the drone survey is proceeding, the door-to-door survey is being delayed. 

“The door-to-door survey has been completed in 33 wards. We have asked the consultant to increase the number of teams and manpower so that we can complete the survey by November,” added the official. 

The GIS mapping project would include a base map preparation and utility mapping (through door-to-door survey), in addition to drone survey. The Corporation, which had cracked down on property tax defaulters, collected Rs 720.72 crores for 2017-18 against the target of Rs 750 crores. 

According to the civic body, there are 12,14,823 property tax assesses. This year, the GIS mapping projects would help the civic body identify underassessed and unassessed properties, which would help it achieve this year’s target, the official added. 

“Even without increasing the property tax, there is a huge potential for revenue generation by zeroing in on those properties which are underassessed. Once the field survey and drone mapping is complete, we can identify the properties which have been underassessed or remain unassessed and collect the revenue that is due to the Corporation,” said the official.