Isro satellite maps to help BBMP augment revenues

Bengaluru: Come January, the cash-strapped BBMP is expected to go for an overhaul and augment its revenues with the help of Isro in tax collection, clearing of encroachments, safeguarding lakes, violating of building bylaws etc. 

The BBMP had signed an MoU with Isro in 2016 to provide satellite images of areas where the civic body is losing crores of rupees in property tax revenues. A BBMP source said that workshops are going on and by December, all officials of all the 198 wards in the city will be taught how to use satellite images and analyse data to figure out violations. 

“There are only 16.3 lakh properties under the BBMP tax net. But every single day there is some new building coming up in all the 198 wards and they all are yet to be brought under the tax net,” the BBMP official said.

“If all the properties are brought under the tax net, we can easily mop up more than Rs 5,000 crore, while we are struggling to collect even Rs 2,000 crore,” he said.

“At present, we are conducting workshops for our officials with the images provided by Isro. We are teaching them how to analyse the data given by Isro with BBMP data and crosscheck if there is any violation. For instance, a property owner who has been paying property tax for a building with three floors might have fooled the BBMP by hiding another three floors. This is where GIS maps and images from ISRO will help us find violations. The system will be ready by December and will be implemented from January,” he said.