No data breach with property survey, says GHMC Commissioner

GHMC Commissioner Amrapali Kata, and Additional Commissioner, Revenue & IT, Sneha Shabarish, addressing the media in Hyderabad on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL

Commissioner of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Amrapali Kata, sought to allay fears about the property survey presently going on in the city, and assured that the survey would not result in any data breach.

All the data entered into the mobile app during the field survey will be stored in the server of RailTel, a public sector broadband service provider to the Indian Railways, Ms. Amrapali shared, while addressing her first ever media conference after taking over as GHMC Commissioner, on Thursday.

The GHMC has initiated a GIS-based mapping of the city, which includes satellite imaging, drone survey and ground truthing of the data obtained.

While the satellite imaging has been completed, the drone survey has been completed in 130 square kilometres area, Ms. Amrapali shared. A total 1,14,020 plots have been digitised so far in 14 areas of eight circles.

The areas covered by the drone survey include Hydernagar, Miyapur, Chandanagar, KPHB Colony, Uppal, Hayatnagar, Madhapur, Serilingampally, Allwyn Colony, Vivekananda Nagar Colony, Gajularamaram, Subhash Nagar, Nagole and RC Puram.

Field survey towards ground truthing is presently on in six areas, including Hydernagar, Miaypur, Chandanagar, KPHB Colony, Uppal and Hayathnagar, about which several apprehensions prevail.

Ms. Amrapali assured that the details sought from the residents have been cut down to bare minimum to save on time, as the aim is to complete the survey in the coming six months.

Personal data such as PAN and Aadhaar numbers are not being obtained, and even details of water and electricity bills are optional, she said.

While improvement in property tax revenue is one of the objectives of the project, the focus will be mainly on commercial properties rather than residential, she said.

She sought to emphasise on other stated objectives such as digital door numbering, digitisation of roads and other utilities, geo-fencing of the government properties, better service delivery, and easier resolution of the property tax disputes.

Additional Commissioner, Revenue & IT, Sneha Shabarish, said ground truthing of only about 300 properties has been completed till now. Details being sought from property owners include the property use, Property Tax Identification Number, plinth area of the property, plantation and rainwater harvesting structure details, road width and others. Building permission numbers are optional.