VMRDA launches land monitoring project to identify illegal layouts in Vizag

In an attempt to curb land encroachments, the Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) has introduced a software. On Friday, Rajya Sabha member, Vijayasai Reddy, launched the land monitoring project – a Change Detection Software (CDS) in Vizag.

Mr Reddy inquired about the functioning of the new software. Shedding light on the land monitoring project, VMRDA Commissioner, P Koteswara Rao informed that in the first phase, 228 acres belonging to VMRDA will be monitored by the CDS. Sharing further details, he said that the project was taken up in association with Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI). The pilot project which has been commissioned at Madhurawada and Paradesipalem in Vizag, is being monitored by using DGPS survey data and Geographic Information System (GIS) software. The GIS-based applications will detect encroachments and layout plan violations and alert the concerned authorities via an SMS/e-mail.

The VMRDA Commissioner noted that the metropolitan authority owns about 10,158 acres of land spread over the two districts of Vizag and Vizianagaram. He added that with urbanisation and changing topography, the land monitoring project would be helpful in keeping a check on land encroachments and illegal layouts in Vizag. Additional Commissioner Manazir Jeelani Samoon and others were present at the event.

Earlier in December 2020, a special team formed by the Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) identified 663 unauthorised layouts in the district during its field inspections. The exercise was carried out in Vizag by deploying 46 Ward Planning and Regularisation Secretaries (WPRS). The VMRDA Commissioner informed that the metropolitan authority received 3,764 applications under the Layout Regularisation Scheme. He further noted that 663 illegal layouts were found in Vizag by the VMRDA during the drive.