Better Management & Good Governance by the Application of "GIS"
INTRODUCTION OF GIS:
One of the developmental activities undertaken is the introduction & implementation of Geographic Information System or GIS for data maintenance & preservation and proper monitoring of the Municipal Administration. GIS is a technology adopted by this ULB with the financial assistance and operational support of KMDA under IPP VIII project, to introduce automated service and Municipal Information System (MIS) in the year 2001. At the inception of GIS, KMDA provided Hardware & Software and trained GIS Technician/Expert to resume this technology. With the support of KMDA some of Municipal staffs were given Computer training to take advantage of GIS, as well as to assist & execute the entire technology in near future. Thus, advent of GIS & automated services gave birth to a new terminology “e-Governance”, in this ULB.
GIS as one of the main tools of e-Governance:
Before the advent of GIS as well as e-Governance the Municipal Information System was not boldly initiated. It was quite hazardous and time consuming to serve the local citizens in various sectors especially in Property Tax, Water connection, Construction of Roads & Drains, Issuing of Birth & Death Certificates, Garbage cleaning etc. But, the introduction of automated system in place of conventional manual system has improved manifold the work efficiency of the Municipality. Now, GIS is being used as one of the main tools of e-Governance for transparent administration.
The procedure & steps of implementation of GIS in this ULB are:-
1. Surveyors were selected from enlisted planners and were provided with blank map.
2. Surveyors plotted actual position of holdings, road, drains etc. on map.
3. Arrangement of computer training was made for Municipal staff to take advantage of this technology.
4. A database proforma / format were prepared for data collection & entry.
5. House to house practical survey done by trained HHW for data collection.
6. Entry of holding & other infrastructural data.
7. Digitization of holdings, local resources & infrastructure like roads, drains water supply etc. and attachment of data & map in the GIS software.
TRANSPARENT ADMINISTRATION & MONITORING SYSTEM THROUGH GIS:
GIS has enabled to perform prompt services in the following sectors:-
(A) Holding wise infrastructural information:
At pre-GIS age (before the advent of GIS), it was impossible to find out the proper location of a holding instantly and due to non-availability of database the information of a holding was not collective and organized.
But presently, at GIS age the detailed information of a holding like – owner’s income, tax status, building status, building structure, power supply status, drinking water source, family members etc. are instantly available along with its proper location on the base map.
(B) Tax:
At present identification of tax defaulter is much easier & appropriate by using GIS as a monitoring tool.
Instant access to any types of queries regarding TAX, such as Annual/Quarterly Demand, Valuation, Current Collection, Arrear dues & collection, Remission amount etc.
Introduction of Online (Intranet) Property Tax Collection to avoid hazards.
While considering the valuation as well as tax remission of a holding, it can instantly be cross checked with the data of the concerned holding.
Collection of Current Property Tax enhanced from 53% (pre-GIS age) to 82% (GIS age)
(C) Water
Details of Water supply pipeline like – pipe material, length, width, no of joints, location of valves etc. are easily available.
No. of holdings getting water supply from a particular pipe line can be identified.
By the identification of valve locations, it is much easier to repair as well as replace any pipeline without affecting the water supply network of that area.
Capacity of water flow of each pipe can be assessed from the pipe-width of the pipeline.
Instant identification of the holdings having new connection. f. Actual & instant demand of Water Cess.
(D) Roads
Availability of road data like – road length, width, variable width, road status (material), repairing cost, repairing agency etc.
Deformed or kancha roads are easily identified and as a result repairing process becomes less hazardous.
Pre-assessment of cost & planning are possible for road repairing due to instant access of road data.
It has been possible through GIS to get the information as well as choose the appropriate route regarding immediate access of Cess Pool Car to holding and the details of the roads adjacent to that holding.
(E) Drains
Identification of water logged areas & measures taken for reddressal.
Regular cleaning for smooth flow.
Kancha drains can be easily identified; as a result the planning process to convert it to Pucca (cemented) becomes much more convenient.
(F) Power GIS (Electricity):
Locations of Electric Post & Transformer can be identified.
Instant information can be provided about the light/lamp status of any Electric Post within New Barrackpore area.
Identification of power connection from Transformer to Electric Post & from Electric Post to the holdings enables instant access to the entire Power Network System.
Power problems created due to Transformer Disorder are easily being solved, due to instant identification of the concerned disordered Transformer as well as the Electric Post.
(G) Health:
Monitoring the work of the IPP-VIII Health programme more effectively.
Availability of health data including BPL families.
Identification of the deficient areas.
Comparisons of health status in respect to their surrounding environment are possible due to availability of both the Health & Holding data.
OTHER APPLICATIONS:-
Installation of Touch Screen info-KIOSK for instant information on Municipal Service for the citizen with the help of GIS:-
By accessing info-KIOSK:
A TAX PAYER CAN HAVE:-
• Details of his/her arrears & current tax status;
• Annual demand of property tax;
• Quality information of all other fields of works;
• Ward wise & holding wise tax status;
CITIZENS GET:-
• Information about Train & Bus services, results of Exams of Local schools;
• All types information of Dr. B.C. Roy General Hospital & Maternity Home;
• Information about future development plans
• Location, address & contact no. of emergency (24 hrs.) medicine shops in the locality;
• List & information of Doctors for general & specialized treatment;
