CHENNAI: Greater
Chennai Corporation earned a revenue of Rs 12cr in the past two months, thanks to the new
GIS mapping system. Officials found that various shops and commercial establishments had not renewed their trade licenses for several years and many had not paid professional tax.
The revenue department officials formed a special team that visited three zones Adyar, Kodanbakkam and Royapuram especially in wards such as 57, 136 and 172 with major commercial areas.
“When it comes to revenue, major components are property tax, professional tax, trade license fee and company license tax. So, we completed the drone survey and the conducted door-to-door survey of all the properties and utilities in these areas first. The reports were submitted to the corporation officials a few months ago,” said an official.
Senior officers in the revenue department told TOI they used the data and assessed the properties in the commercial areas. “We first wanted to check the streets with commercial establishments. We found that many had not renewed their trade license. Also, professional tax dues were unpaid. We mopped up a revenue of Rs 12cr in just last two months. We will use further information and check in other locations as well,” said an official.
The Rs 6.8cr project that was started by the civic body in December, 2017 involves drone and door-to-door survey. A consultant – Darashaw – has been awarded the project. It has been completed in 38 of the 200 wards. In three zones where the property tax assessment and trade license assessment has been completed, the civic body found that shopowners had not renewed their trade licenses and had not paid professional tax for years.
The drone survey has been completed for nearly 314sqkm out of the total 427sqkm. This data has also been wetted by the defence department, said a senior officer.
Once that data is finalised and confirmed using door-to-door survey, the corporation will form special teams and use the data to find out under-assessed properties, new constructions, illegal constructions and violations. As per the civic body, there are 12,14,823 assessments in city limits. “After the process is completed in 2019, we hope that the revenue increase would be nearly 500cr,” said an official.
The drone survey alone has been completed in 144 wards and door-to-door survey in 45 wards. The project not only aims at improving the coffers of the civic body but also gives them an idea on the various utility by mapping it using geospatial techniques.
“We will prepare a base map that will not just map the property but also the utilities such as roads, storm water drains, lakes, canals and other utilities such as street lights, transformers and pavements. Drones will be used to capture images and videos. Then, we will conduct door-to-door survey and collect data,” said an official.
Drone survey completed in 144 wards
