After drones, BBMP looks to satellites for help

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has approached the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to evaluate the condition of city roads every six months.

A report in the Bangalore Mirror says for the first time in the country, a civic body plans to collaborate with the space agency to deal problems pertaining to the city, including encroachment of lakes and stormwater drainage, illegal garbage dumping and condition of roads.

The BBMP signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Isro in December 2016 to collect and analyse data from satellites.

Isro will hand over information to BBMP every six months so that the civic agency can compare with the existing city maps to know the changes in the property details. The BBMP officials can access Isro's Bhuvan portal to update the landscape data.

It is said that the analysis of pictures taken by satellites will begin from January.

The BBMP also has plans to use unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to map property and taxes in the city with Isro's help. UAS technology will be used as a pilot project in one of the eight zones