Sharing his previous experience in UP Public Works Department, Nitin Ramesh Gokarn, Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Planning, Government of Uttar Pradesh said by leveraging technology, his department made remarkable progress in road improvement, repair, and maintenance. He said that by using ‘Srishti’ technology, which is a GIS-based application, PWD mapped around 4 lakh roads in UP, which was not possible manually.
Elaborating further on the role of technology, he stated that it has helped in road maintenance and in reducing inconsistent sanctions which is a product of tender favouritism, as sometimes it happens that one particular road keeps getting sanctioned funds.
Highlighting the impeccable role technology has played in developing state highways, he said, “We started looking for grids to form new highways in the state. We had 10 square km of grids. We researched National Highways and major ODRs and MDRs. And around 3500 kilometres of roads were declared as state highways in one go.”
“These roads were geographically spread and not confined to one or two districts. And each of these roads has connectivity with national highways and major roads,” he added.
Gokarn said that these special plans could only be made possible because they employed data-mining technology which helped in taking data-driven decisions. He emphasised that technology has made people’s lives easier and more convenient and it has helped in better delivery of services and making better plans.
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Talking about his involvement in the Online Building Plan Approval System i.e, OBPAS, Gokarn said, “Every project above 300 square kilometres requires a construction map which is needed by the concerned development authority. There are several issues with it, like where the plot is located on a geographical basis, what kind of land use it is, and what kind of urban infrastructure is available. To address this, we have started a GIS-based ‘Market Plan’. It is currently being used in 59 cities and major metros at an advanced stage.”
He further said that this Market Plan would be made available to the common public for use by October-end.
Gokarn stated that land or plot maps will also be mapped using a GIS-based platform so that when somebody purchases land, they would know what kind of land it is, whether the plot is a green field zone, and whether the area is fit to develop as commercial infrastructure. He emphasised that unless and until the land gets mapped on a special basis across UP, these hidden hurdles will continue to create problems. He said GIS-based mapping will itself generate whether the submitted map is approved and verified. He added that if any issue arises with the submitted plot map, the GIS-based platform will automatically notify the owner, concerned architect and builder.
Gokarn concluded with the thought that technology like GIS has brought efficiency and transparency and has helped save on time and costs. “It is, and will continue to make a big difference in the lives of the common man,” he said.