AGI Newsletter Jan-Feb 2022
AGI Newsletter Jan-Feb 2022
AGI Newsletter Jan-Feb 2022
In this Issue
From the President’s Desk President’s Message 1
Land has always had a dynamic relationship with mankind,
governing cultural, social, and economic development. This Interview
relationship is defined by the land policies and regulations Shri Sunil Kumar
of the time, which act as essential tools for allocating and Surveyor General of India
controlling land rights, restrictions and responsibilities. (Additional Charge) and 2
Establishing and maintaining these tools effectively requires a Joint Secretary, Department
sound spatial framework built upon reliable, accurate data. of Science and Technology,
Government of India
As the core of the land administration system in India, land records have a long
but marred history. Challenges such as multiplicity of records across departments,
inconsistency in updates, inaccuracy and/or complete lack of data have troubled all Interview
stakeholders for years on end.
Sanjiv Jha
The present situation demands more focus on data quality, accuracy and speed in creating Principal Solution Architect –
a central online database for land records. A forward-looking vision to integrate aspects Smart Infrastructure, Amazon 4
of 4IR, IoT, Blockchain, BIM 3D and 4D for improved data collection, analysis, and Internet Services Pvt. Ltd,
visualization is also vital. This is where the ‘Fit-for-Purpose’ approach steps in – deploying AWS India and South Asia
scalable solutions considering both the urgencies of today and the developments of
tomorrow.
Special Feature
The answer lies in a convergence of policymakers, private companies, scientists and field
workers leveraging Geospatial technologies to build a single solid ecosystem that can be
Geospatial Data Revolution 6
is the Pillar for a Digitized
value-added upon. Digitalization of land administration on the shoulders of Geospatial
Land Administration
technology will ensure scalability, inclusivity, community involvement, reliability, accuracy,
and updates while maintaining cost and time effectiveness, irrespective of land use, System in India
occupation or geography.
Article
The Association of Geospatial Industries (AGI) appreciates the liberalization of Land Records, Registry
Geospatial data, setting up of countrywide CORS infrastructure, and increased
government-private collaborations, which are steps in the right direction. Moving forward,
and Revenue: Indian 9
Experience and Way
we need to sustain this momentum, promote awareness about value creation through
investments in Geospatial technologies and content, and work cohesively in the spirit of Forward
betterment of the industry.
As a forum for exchange of ideas, techniques, approaches, and experiences by those who Case Study 12
design, implement and use Geospatial technology solutions, AGI calls for a sustainable, IIC Technologies
systemic transformation in the context of Indian land administration. An accelerated
adoption of Geospatial technologies will ensure faster, reusable, optimized outcomes. We Article
proudly present this edition of AGI’s newsletter as a comprehensive document on the
increasing relevance of Geospatial for Land Administration for all stakeholders from the
Roter Group of 14
government, industry, academia, and society as a whole. Companies
We hope this edition comes across as insightful and enjoyable. Stay tuned for more
insights, stories, and analyses from AGI in the coming months. Case Study
Secon Pvt Ltd
15
Enjoy Reading,
Agendra Kumar
President, AGI Updates from AGI 16
For an initiative of such a vast SoI also conducted multiple workshops covering the surveying and mapping
scale as SVAMITVA, there are and seminars with the industry to aspect of the scheme implementation,
understand the bottlenecks involved and focusing on using the best available
bound to be some challenges, one strategize the timely completion of targets technologies for cadastral surveying and
of which is data collection and under the scheme.. mapping.
processing due to lack of a robust
IT infrastructure, inadequate Presently we are empaneling private For example, SoI had presented for
number of drones, disruption firms to undertake future work execution inclusion of the CORS technology
activities. This was recommended by under the DILRMP in 2015-16 itself,
because of the pandemic, and the industry itself to determine the acknowledging the long-term significance
so on. How has the Survey of best suited business model for scheme and widespread application of
India planned to address these implementation. Geospatial infrastructure in land records
challenges and complete the management.
ambitious project by 2024? As of date, SOI has already completed
drone flying for more than 100,000 villages. DILRMP has three major components,
Survey of India (SoI) has planned for This is a huge number considering the out of which Resurvey of Revision
the execution of surveying and mapping impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and Survey has been covered under the third
works under the SVAMITVA scheme other challenges. SoI is also learning from component. The other two components
with a multi pronged strategy. The idea the villages covered so far in different focus on digitization of the existing
is to cater to timely augmentation of States and is now more stable in terms of revenue records and creation of the
key resources, including manpower resources and workflow. physical, it and Geospatial infrastructure
or material resources essentially at state, district and tehsil level for
required for the execution. However, For the land administration sector modernization of land records in their
with the scheme involving multiple in India, the other key component respective state.
stakeholders, the effective translation is the DILRMP project of the
of any execution plan into tangible We believe that Geospatial companies
Department of Land Resources and other commercial industry players
ground actions is a tough challenge. All
stakeholders must demonstrate the same [DoLR]. What initiatives and have been engaged quite successfully so
tenacity, commitment and vigour for collaborations has SoI been far in the scheme implementation for all
accomplishing their targets. involved with for this program? components of powering resurvey. The
prescribed business models stipulates
How can industry increase its that execution will be done by respective
Anticipating the resource gaps, SoI had engagement for fulfilling the
started direct and indirect engagement State Governments only, who have been
with all Geospatial and drone related objectives of DILRMP? focusing almost entirely on components
professional bodies, drone and Geospatial other than resurvey, as it involves
(product and service) companies and DILRMP program has been going on in serious technical challenges and deeper
drone training institutes as early as the country for past 15 to 16 years and technical understanding of surveying
March-April 2021, aiming to gauge the SoI has been associated with this program methodologies.
expertise and capacity available in the ever since its formulation as NLRMP (now
country. engagement activities included DILRMP). Some states like Bihar Odisha, and
tendering under different business models Gujarat, however, have executed works
SoI is a key player in the Core Technical under resurvey component of dilrmp
[procurement of survey grid drones Advisory Group (CTAG) as well as
and data processing software], drone as through outsourcing and by engaging
Project Monitoring & Sanctioning Group with Geospatial companies, and must be
a service on turnkey basis, end to end (PM&SG) at DoLR. We have been
outsourcing, and engagement with GIS lauded.
extending technical expertise primarily
professionals.
With the huge volume of Big graduate degree programs at scale across
Geospatial Data and vast number states in India, training faculty and
of stakeholders involved in the providing students industry-recognized
cloud curriculum and access to AWS
A public cloud has the
digitization of land administration, certifications through the AWS Academy advantage of economy
the “cloud” appears to be the program, and offering the AWS re/Start
much-needed solution. And yet, program. of scale, and over time,
Geospatial cloud computing is still
Talking about various cloud
it has evolved as the
in its infancy in India. Where is the
gap? deployment models (public, one stop solution for
private, hybrid, multi-cloud, security, accessibility,
There are two major challenges facing the community), is there a single
faster adoption of cloud computing in the solution that offers advantages control, affordability
geospatial segment, and preventing it to
scale. The first reason is the unavailability
of security, accessibility, control, and compatibility.
of the right software to process geospatial affordability, and compatibility at
data on the cloud. The software to the same time?
process these data are decades old and types of datasets mandatory for
mostly desktop based. Vendors are now A public cloud has the advantage of
building cloud-optimized versions of economy of scale, and over time, it has moving them to the cloud? If yes,
the software, but this is still in a very evolved as the one stop solution for how can organizations ensure
early stage. One can still deploy the security, accessibility, control, affordability this?
software but they are yet to evolve to take and compatibility. AWS has been the
advantage of native cloud benefits of world’s most comprehensive and broadly Compatibility/ interoperability is not
elasticity and dynamic scaling. So, the true adopted cloud offering for over 15 years the blocker for cloud adoption; there are
value of cloud transformation is yet to be and is serving millions of customers emerging standards which make storing
realized. globally. these large datasets on cloud efficient.
One of the evolving standards is COG
The second reason is general awareness At AWS, security is always our top (Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF). A COG
and lack of availability of skilled cloud priority. AWS has been architected to is simply a GeoTIFF (a public domain
architects in the industry. Doing a lift be the most flexible and secure cloud metadata standard) that has an internal
and shift of the workloads from an on- computing environment available today. organization that supports efficient access
premise deployment does not achieve the Our core infrastructure is built to satisfy via HTTP, i.e., it is formatted to work on
full value of cloud transformation, we the security requirements for military, the cloud.
need to have cloud optimized architecture global banks, and other high-sensitivity
to fully realize the potential, and skilled organizations. This internal organization is combined
cloud talent is important here. The reality with an HTTP feature called ‘GET range
is that technology innovation is outpacing In contrast to the past, where request’ that allows only the portion of
skills development. AWS understands data was scarce, today we have a the file that is needed to be retrieved.
this, and we are deeply committed and multitude of resources offering Similarly, the Spatio Temporal Asset
invested to developing a skilled talent Catalog (STAC) specification provides a
Geospatial data in various common language to describe a range of
pool in the country. We are doing
this by – collaborating with education formats, resolutions, and quality geospatial information, so it can more
institutions to offer integrated computing standards. Is the compatibility/ easily be indexed and discovered. While
curriculum in undergraduate and post- interoperability of these different moving data to cloud, it is advantageous
Figure 1: Sustainable Development and Land Administration scanning, and LiDAR for achieving
greater accuracy and faster data collection
for land parcels.
No wonder the volume of data collected
is humongous. It is here that a robust
Land Land cloud GIS architecture can power
Policy Tenure applications for data storage, transfer,
analytics and visualization, besides
offering easy scalability for evolving
data types and volumes. Land registry
information can be objectively monitored
because Geospatial technologies are
Integrated helping organize the so-far chaotic and
Effective scattered datasets.
Land Geospatial
Land
Development Information Land Use Regulation
Administration
Geospatial platforms can prove valuable
for local governance. Data collected,
analyzed and interpreted on GIS can
help authorities ascertain whether
developments are in line with regulatory
frameworks. Integrated spatial modelling
Land Land using Remote Sensing data, GIS
Use Value databases and positioning infrastructure
can also help realize and predict spatial
development and changing urban land
use patterns.
Information on key aspects of land
Illustration Source: Author; Inspired from UN FELA document administration can be made publicly
available for citizens and private sector
are a part of the ecosystem, data on One, this will help unlock the economic participation, performance comparisons
ownership and transfers, data on market value of finite resources like land across units and sub-units, facilitating
trends from one location to another, assets, especially in rural areas. Two, suggestions for improvement.
data on utilities and land use, data on the it will usher in a new era for effective
environment, soil and agriculture - data implementation of government initiatives Land Valuation and Taxation
that is accurate, interlinked and updated and welfare schemes in the agriculture The determination of accurate property
from time to time. sector. Together, they can spur enormous tax and value depends on relevant up-
growth in rural India and positively to-date information on the land parcel
Where Geospatial Fits In impact almost 65% of the population of concerned. Land ownership information
our country.” is of little use if not spatially referenced
Revamping obsolete and ineffective
land administration systems, Geospatial Land Records or when transactions such as mortgages
technologies are enabling faster, more and tax liabilities are not recorded.
reliable, and manageable collection, The complicated system of maintaining Geospatial technology helps fill such gaps
update and distribution of land-related land records in India dated back to in recordkeeping.
data – a much-needed transformation. colonial times until recently, required
to be updated every 30 years through At the same time, it provides a reliable
Geospatial technologies like satellite survey and settlement operations. Most framework for precise identification and
imaging and mapping, drone imagery, of the data existing with authorities are verification of data from multiple sources
positioning and GIS can help manage all inaccurate, sometimes completely far for accurate valuation.
aspects of land information and records, from reality.
including land tenure, value, management Challenges to Effective Land
and use. With such extensive information Geospatial technologies have Administration in India
collated, stored and analyzed on easy-to- revolutionized conventional surveying The failure to realize an effective land
interpret visual platforms, Governments methods. GNSS is being used in administration system in the country so
can improve land information topographic surveys to determine precise far needs to be viewed from a systemic,
management, property valuation and locations in any weather conditions at besides a technological perspective.
analysis as well as public communications any time of the day. Geodetic survey
from head to toe. equipments have become smaller, faster Data Quality is not Uniform
and more accurate.
Deven Laheru, President, Scanpoint In the absence of any standardization for
Geomatics Ltd, remarks, “Geo-enabled The SVAMITVA scheme has shown how data collected by various stakeholders, it
digital land records that accurately lightweight, easy to handle drones can be is difficult to assure expected outcomes.
mirror the ground scenario, along with used to obtain aerial imagery for accurate Most of the land-related data in India
systemic interventions using Geospatial mapping of property boundaries, ages back by decades. Conducting surveys
technologies for recording changes in corroborated with manual inspection. and re-surveys of these datasets is not
revenue records in real-time have far- Traditional land surveys are now being happening at a uniform pace throughout
reaching impact on two fronts. combined with advanced tools like the country for the preparation of a
3D modelling, HD imagery, terrestrial comprehensive database.
Different Types of Land to be matter, as an unnecessarily expensive Quality and Adoption of Standards have
Administrated affair. While such misconceptions either been eradicated or minimized.
have prevented them from gauging The result is that more data has become
In India, land administration can be the true return on investment that available in digital format, and the use of
categorized into that for urban, rural these technologies can offer, they GIS for integrating land-related data has
and tribal areas. Each of these categories have also resulted in lesser awareness become more opportune.”
demands a unique perspective of and participation of Geospatial in the
administration, rooted in unique mapping mainstream. Existing land administration systems
technologies. While urban areas abound in the country require extensions into
in vertical developments and multiple Geospatial tools and technologies have 3D and 4D functionality to better
owners of the same piece of land, rural become widely indigenous, and their capture both horizontal and vertical
areas have different issues for agricultural cost of implementation has reduced developments on land parcels. The
and non-agricultural lands. The tribal significantly. The ongoing SVAMITVA concept of the ‘digital twin’ holds
areas demand an entirely different scheme by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, tremendous potential for redefining
flavor interlaced with cultural, political Government of India, is a vivid example, the conventional land administration
and privacy concerns. A broad-based using modern Geospatial technology on approach, enabling the integration of
comprehensive policy keeping different a countrywide scale to benefit millions of real-time data, reports, analyses, and user
regulatory approaches in view needs to be rural property owners. The investments experiences for past evaluations, present
developed. are sizable, but the scheme is completely observations and future predictions.
transforming India’s decades-old rural
Corruption hindering Administrative land administration system. Advanced technologies like blockchain
Modernization can be leveraged in tandem with
What next? Geospatial technologies for land
Most countries around the world are administration in the future, for ensuring
grappling with the issue of corruption Raghavendra Boyapally, Founder transparency and organization of
that stems from institutional opacity. & Managing Director, Marvel transactions on a single, decentralized,
While land administration needs to be Geospatial Solutions, notes, “Until corruption-free framework. A ‘Fit for
modernized on the pillars of a digital now, GIS technology was considered too Purpose’ approach must be adopted for
transformation, there has also been sophisticated, required specialist users, addressing the most pressing needs at the
tremendous resistance against it because and seemed difficult to integrate into moment through adaptable tools that can
of the transparency it will bring about in mainstream information technology. be gradually scaled up based on evolving
terms of land records, ownerships, sales This severely restricted its widespread needs.
and purchases. adoption by those involved in land
administration.” Substantial work is being undertaken and
Misconceptions about Geospatial completed on these lines by governments,
Technology abound “As GIS and associated technologies have private sector companies, global
been liberated with the implementation organizations and NGOs, and yet more
For a long time, governments and of the new Geospatial Guidelines, the needs to be done to realize the vision
authorities have been viewing Geospatial traditional challenges around Data for an effective and sustainable land
technologies or even digitization, for that Ownership, Data Protection, Data administration system in the country.
Why Survey/Resurvey is a Critical The Context and Challenges first two phases, particularly in QA/QC
Requirement and acceptances stages at state/UT level.
It would be prudent to analyze the
Survey/resurvey has a pivotal role to DILRMP progress in three phases for The result is in the form of preparation
play in terms of achieving the ultimate better clarity of context and associated of georeferenced cadastral records using
objective of GIS-based programme developments. HRSI (high-resolution satellite imagery),
management – the integration of all with no rigorous ground validation
verticals in revenue administration • First phase (2009-2016): Primary surveys to determine data absoluteness.
for conclusive titling and for ensuring focus was on the creation of HRSI-rectified and geo-referenced
transparent, effective land transactions. requisite infrastructure, training, and maps were to be used solely as village
computerization of land records index maps for purposes other than
Cadastral maps in India are very old, whether in-house or through land transactions. Only ground-verified
dating back from 30 to 100 years, and outsourcing. No focus or progress in Geospatial data prepared as per existing/
were originally prepared in a different the survey/resurvey component. modified State/UT-specific revenue
spatial reference frame. No physical codes and laws had to be used for the
reference points or survey monuments • Second phase (2016-2019): Similar core GIS for final planimetric accuracy.
representing the old spatial reference focus as above, with sole emphasis
frames exist today for cross-checks or on land records and registration The unavailability of the right kind of
resurvey work. None of the past survey computerization. Notable attempts data, therefore, is the primary bottleneck,
records or ancillary traverse records are from a few states like Gujarat, and not unavailability of technology.
available either. This makes the task of Haryana, Bihar, Kerala, Maharashtra, This leads to negative developments
geo-referencing existing records without and Tamil Nadu, which never got like non-payments, delayed execution,
resurvey a daunting challenge. concluded as per planned output arbitration proceedings, non-completion
delivery and timelines. of contracts, etc. in various outsourcing
Original survey work will also be required cases under the project.
in areas with no existing revenue records, • Third phase (2019 onwards):
either because those areas were not Currently under progress; but Existing Institutional Structures
covered, or their revenue records were hampered significantly due to the
lost, damaged, or destroyed in the past. unprecedented COVID-19 situation State-specific institutional systems for
And yet, for more than five decades after in the country. The diversion in revenue administration have been in
independence, there has been absolutely the Government’s focus from core existence for a long time in the country,
no focus on resurveys or modernization survey/resurvey work in year 2016 but their role and importance have seen
of revenue processes, barring sporadic has finally been recognized, along significant change post-independence,
efforts by some states at a much smaller with restoration of special focus with in the light of administrative reshuffles
scale. funds for survey/resurvey in 2019. and policy changes. The capacity and
expertise available in present revenue
To be able to critically analyze the Indian Associated Technicalities institutions across a majority of the
experience with land records, registry, and states/UTs has seen considerable
revenue, one must acknowledge that the Survey/resurvey component requires depletion over the last four to five
situation in the country is quite complex. detailed and accurate understanding of decades.
It demands a thorough understanding technologies for better decision-making.
of the context and challenges, associated However, the programme suffered due to The gradual deterioration of work
technicalities, existing institutional adoption of shortcuts against surveying processes, capacities, expertise and
structures, policy scenario and, most best practices and inadequate knowledge attitude of revenue institutions has
importantly, stakeholder accountability. about correct surveying approaches in the affected both data maintenance and net
land revenue collection across the country. There is also a major gap in awareness 1. Expertise and capacity-building at
Huge volumes of datasets of all types and among Government officials about global revenue institutions
forms are lying with revenue institutions developments and examples such as
in the country left to be duly incorporated. FELA or the Fit-for-Purpose approach, Timely execution of target activities
Poorly maintained, outdated and erroneous or the latest technological advancements for modernization of various facets
revenue records abound. in cadastral mapping and revenue system of land revenue system in the country
modernization. Revenue laws of most can be achieved only when revenue
It seems the biggest reason for this gap states are also yet to be updated in institutions are strengthened with
is the lack of intent, focus, prioritization purview of such developments. skilled manpower as per revised roles
and will for modernization, updation and and mandates.
management of land revenue systems Central agencies like Survey of India
across the country. had been there as part of monitoring 2. Policy-level interventions
mechanism to extend the technical
Procedural Stipulations expertise of surveying and mapping in The approach adopted for the
DILRMP scheme implementation, but implementation of the programme
Since independence, land revenue real technology infusion using latest requires changes in terms of more
collection has been majorly limited to surveying and mapping technologies clarity at Centre/State Government
the registration of sale/purchase of have not been easy in the rigid project level about the strategic issues
commercial land transactions through structure. witnessed during the past 10-12 years
a mutually exclusive process. There was of its implementation.
never any compulsion for completing The Bright Side: Positive
inherently associated revenue processes Developments in the Field 3. Capacity Building
like ROR entries, or timely updates to
mutation records and cadastral maps in Over the last few years and especially Various stakeholders at various levels
sync with land-related transactions. in the current and third phase of the including Centre, State and Private
DILRMP, several positive developments agencies need to be equipped with
Component-wise costing worked out for have been witnessed on the land skills in sync with proposed targets,
the 1st phase of the scheme was found administration front. Textual or Records technologies, and processes at large.
to be very unattractive to private firms, of Right (ROR) data is presently being
as evident from the feeble response integrated with the registration process 4. Deeper engagement of the private
to outsourcing tenders of the states/ across all states at a commendable pace sector
UTs. In states/UTs with the capacity under DILRMP.
and determination to absorb additional Technology approaches like use
financial burden over and above the States/UTs are also facilitating quality of CORS network infrastructure
DILRMP, funds allocation could really citizen services with web-based access combined with aerial data capturing
start survey/resurvey activities. These rates to mutation and land records to view for resurvey with realistic timelines
were enhanced in the second phase but and certify non-encumbrances, ensure considering the available capacity
there was no focus on the survey/resurvey time-bound auto-mutation, and seeding in the country and planned
component. Therefore, real advantage of registration processes with biometric augmentation in partnership with the
could never be leveraged in tangible terms. Aadhar records to eliminate fraudulent industry.
transactions, for instance. 5. A novel approach
Further, there were other procedural
stipulations on the release of funds to SoI’s advocacy for inclusion of CORS New frameworks and processes
states under the scheme as Centrally technology 2015-16 onwards has based on global land administration
Sponsored Scheme, corrected later when also finally been realized, with the standards, best practices and available
the scheme was made a Central Sector establishment of the CORS network frameworks like FELA, IGIF, WB
Scheme by the Central Government in the and use of Network RTK-based survey reports need to be implemented. Due
year 2016. methodology for cadastral level record focus should be paid to the larger
generation. This was introduced under public interest, with open involvement
Stakeholder Accountability the prestigious SVAMITVA scheme of of subject experts to formulate a FFP
the Ministry of Panchayati Raj launched approach.
The prescribed DILRMP implementation in the year 2020.
model stipulates survey/resurvey execution
by respective state/UTs only. Funds The availability of financial
In the recent past, SoI had taken up resources, flexibility for use of latest
are directly provided to them by DoLR survey/resurvey-related large scale
primarily based on their project proposals technology options in programme
mapping work using drone-based implementation, technology adoption
approved by PM&SG under the scheme. photogrammetry survey technology initiatives at revenue institution level
for various states/UTs like Haryana, for new roles, strong will and push
Now, there was no scope for direct Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Andaman &
involvement of any central agency like SoI for requisite policy changes by the
Nicobar, etc, including establishment of Government and readiness to adopt
in the project, which resulted in execution CORS network infrastructure.
of the scheme as per state/UT-specific practical Public-Private Partnerships
focus alone. No priority was placed for What Can be Done Better? The mode of industry engagement for
any changes in technical methodology. Way Forward technology and technical expertise
Most states/UTs were not equipped will help us achieve expeditious
with a deeper technical understanding of The modernization of Indian revenue implementation of the programme in
surveying methodologies and mapping system essentially entails rectification and future.
processes. amendments to:
Geo Referencing: All distributed ground external stakeholders of NMC through from catalogue for spatial and non-spatial
controls used for Geo referencing of the EGIS GeoPortal Solution via Web, views, and export the dataset into required
Aerial imagery, made with polynomial Mobile, Tablets Access. formats where needed.
order 2 with suitable transformation
method. The above diagram depicts the overall Innovation Techniques Adopted
proposed logical technical Solution
DEM Compilation: All architecture for NMC EGIS web-enabled • Pre-Flight Panelling: Performed to save
photogrammetric Digital Elevation GeoPortal System with Mobile Client time and costs of aerial mapping and
Model (DEM) collection carried out access. It displays accurate Surveyed surveying for saving time and costs.
using Z/I ImageStation to meet the ortho outputs in various Spatial layers and Panels visible in photographs were
photo standards. IIC converted final supporting Integrations with current reduced, runtime errors nullified, nearly
DEM (after the QA/QC steps) into 3D IT systems, Data and Spatial systems in 100% accurate datasets and permanent
ASCII XYZ format. Cell sizes were 20m scope of EGIS Project. markers obtained.
for 10m for rural and urban respectively.
Layer 1: Outputs of all approved spatial • Ground Control Points: Obtaining
Generation of Contours: High-accuracy surveyed datasets, collection of any/ GCPs usually consumes a lot of time,
contours generated at 5m thoroughly all spatial datasets, access to documents affecting final project delivery. A
checked and corrected with the help of from servers, integration of existing simplified technique was used instead
DTM/TIN. Systems in NMC with integration to both for establishing GCPs in project areas
spatial and non-spatial information of while obtaining permissions.
Surface/DEM Generation: Surface respective land systems.
generated using final DTM used for • Base Map preparation: Tasks and
orthophoto and DEM generation. Layer 2: Application Data and requests with NMC’s requirements kept
Integration Layer - usage of verified in mind, rather than creating a generic
Pre-Processing: Project setup to Spatial Data files and approved for usage Base map.
be done to define coordinate system in the geoportal solution.
information, rotation angle, ISPM project • Tool Development: Focus was on
and its Orthorectification settings, Layer 3: Data Storage Layer - centralized automation of work and avoiding
seamlines, mosaic parameters etc. distributed storage where PostgreSQl manual errors. Data Migration played
PostGIS RDBMS server is proposed an important role for transferring of
Orthorectification: Performed to to be used for storing both spatial and data into the Database.
correct relief and tilt errors. Outputs non-spatial data and the centralized file
from this task are ortho-photographs. storage server. • Auto Migration of data into the
database
Feature Extraction: Digital Aerial Layer 4: Data Analytics Layer - static and
imagery analysed under high zoom to dynamic report generation and dynamic • Auto QC using spatial tools
identify features listed in data model dashboard with statistical computations
using heads on digitization technique. All as needed for the Nagpur NMC EGIS • Robust Architecture: Focus on website
features extracted from imagery through Geo Portal Solution. efficiency. Highly scalable and reliable
on screen / Heads on digitization web-portal established that was flexible,
technique. Layer 5: Business Layer - Geospatial easily integrable with third-party.
server and QGIS server-side
Digitization: Data capturing carried computational layer. Both spatial and • Knowledge Transfer: Multiple levels
out by attaching input imagery from non-spatial functionality like User, of knowledge transfer to NMC staff
the server as a reference in the CAD Roles, Security single sign on, spatial conducted for better understanding
environment. Base Map in geodatabase. layers access, OGC compliant access of the usage and process of the
of attributes, etc. are supported in this application, making them become self-
About the NMC EGIS Geo Portal server-side layer. sustainable.
Solution
Layer 6 and Layer 7: Presentation • Project Management: Tools developed
The respective department’s surveyed Actual UI Access Layers. Users can login, to monitor online progress of the
datasets are made available to internal and query and retrieve the respective datasets application using Mobile application
for easy navigation access by citizens as
well.
Indicative NMC EGIS Geoportal Screen showing the list of Illegal Constructions in selected AOI