GIS mapping of Bengaluru roads has a long way to go

Knowing what lies where under the roads is important, but the system lacks transparency and discipline.

Bengaluru: The 40th report of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly’s Committee on Local Bodies and Panchayati Raj Institutions, chaired by Rizwan Arshad, focuses on the audit objections raised by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) of 2022 regarding the Urban Development Department’s implementation of underground utility mapping in Bengaluru. The report was recently tabled in the Belagavi session.

The report highlights the lack of a comprehensive policy for underground utility mapping and the absence of mandatory requirements for service providers to maintain and update their utility maps, especially in the BBMP limits.

The report also highlights inconsistencies and inaccuracies in the Geographic Information System (GIS) data collected by various service providers, including BWSSB, BESCOM, and KPTCL, as well as the lack of timely updates and verification of the data.

GIS Mapping Data (2021)

The Multi-Agency Road Cutting and Coordination System (MARCS), established in September 2015, is an online system established by the BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) to provide a single-window solution for road digging requirements of various utilities/service providers and to ensure adequate coordination.

The report states that the GIS mapping of underground utilities in Bengaluru is incomplete and inaccurate. It says the GIS database does not include all underground utilities, such as those belonging to GAIL and GGIL. It also does not capture all essential attributes, such as the depth of the utilities, the materials used, and the installation date.

The data is often outdated and inaccurate, with discrepancies between the mapped locations and the actual locations of utilities. There is no system in place to regularly update the GIS database. There is also a lack of coordination between the various utility providers, resulting in duplication of efforts and inconsistencies in data.

The committee recommends that a new law be enacted to require the construction of separate ducts on both sides of the road for the installation of water, electricity, and OFC cables in new government or private developments in urban or rural areas of the state in the future.

The MRCCS database lacked crucial GIS attributes such as the length of each utility network, depth of utilities laid, material of ducts/pipes used, date of establishment of such utilities, diameter of ducts/pipes, ground survey data, and geo-tagging.

The BBMP did not specify any time frame for informing the user departments about the approval or rejection of requests received from them. As of March 2021, utility departments had not paid Rs. 582.37 crore in prescribed fees against the demand notes issued.

Utility departments had executed 983 works involving 756,367 metres of underground network that were rejected in MRCCS for reasons such as newly laid roads and roads under the defect liability period.

The report points out that despite government orders (December 2018) to impose penalties at the rate of Rs 25 lakh for unauthorised road cuttings, the BBMP had not imposed and collected a penalty of Rs. 24.25 crore on 97 works executed by BESCOM (95) and BWSSB (2) after December 2018.

The chief engineers for MARCS and Optical Fibre Cables explained to the committee that all agencies and service providers must initially apply for permission online by identifying the cable/pipeline in the maps provided on the portal and providing all the information. The agencies and service providers are required to provide attributes tagged to the utilities provided, including the length of each utility network, the depth of the utilities laid, the material of the ducts/pipes used, the date of establishment of such utilities, the diameter of the ducts/pipes, the ground survey data, and the geo-tagged attributes, which indicate the critical attributes.

The Chief Engineer (OFC) explained that the BBMP has entered into memoranda of understanding with service providers, imposing certain conditions and requiring service providers to provide information about underground cables periodically when granting permission from the BBMP.

Permits are granted to lay utilities underground on the condition that existing utilities are not damaged. The damaging entity must immediately repair them if they are damaged. Department officials explained that steps are being taken to update GIS data on underground utilities.

The report suggests that the government should implement a new law requiring the construction of separate ducts for water, electricity, and OFC cables on both sides of roads in new government or private developments. This would help to prevent damage to underground utilities and ensure the accuracy of GIS mapping.

Lack of transparency

In 2014, a fake bill scam rattled BBMP, nudging the BBMP banked on the concept of road history to boost transparency and avoid further pitfalls. Under this, every road would get a unique number. Every property underneath the duct would be mapped and updated, and every work undertaken on the road would also be updated with timelines.

This aimed at helping the BBMP avoid taking up the same work on the same roads a second time while also boosting transparency. The outcome of this project was online as a map, and the data were updated for the public to see. For reasons best known to BBMP, the project disappeared from the public domain after some time.

Today, the BBMP has an online MARCS interface that shows road-cutting applications, but there is no clarity on when the concerned party applied for permission and when it is supposed to be completed. No one can decipher if it is complete and up-to-date by looking at the website interface.

BBMP officials, however, maintain that the MARCS system is online and is working. Officials privately admit that things are not as they should be.

“If there is no system of record, then no one can trace double billing, or raise alerts on re-tendering of the same roads, or track Defect Liability Periods,” explains R Rajagopalan, Convenor of Bengaluru Residents Welfare Association, highlighting the importance of having a record.

“BBMP works on the principle of opacity, and the largest amount of public taxpayers’ money goes to road infrastructure, with senior personnel holding multiple in-charge roles/posts in violation of term periods and cadre rules, controlling this spending over the past decade, with nearly Rs 50,000 crore spent and nothing to show for it,” he adds.

He points out that BBMP’s accounting is full of loopholes. “Section 4 of the RTI Act calls for complete works details and other things to be published online for total transparency. Despite an August 2023 Supreme Court judgement direction we have shared multiple times with the BBMP Chief Commissioner to act upon, we are yet to see BBMP take a positive step towards making the data public,” he rues.

An urban expert who preferred anonymity says better coordination among agencies is necessary for an updated GIS mapping of utilities. He emphasises that all such data must be in the public domain to help make it a collaborative task for everyone to maintain.

Why map underground utilities?

Maintenance and planning: It makes it easy to identify the exact location of underground utilities like water pipes, gas lines, and electrical cables, enabling precise excavation and minimising disruption during repairs or upgrades. Maintenance activities become easier.

Minimising construction risks: It reduces the risk of accidental damage to utilities, which can cause power outages, water contamination, or gas leaks. It facilitates safe and efficient digging for construction.

Better urban planning: This allows planners to visualise underground utilities alongside roads, ensuring new developments align seamlessly with existing systems. It guides the placement of additional infrastructure (e.g., new sewer lines or fibre optic cables) without disrupting the existing network.

Environmental management: Stormwater and sewer systems can be managed better to prevent flooding and waterlogging. It helps assess soil stability for road construction and prevent issues like sinkholes or subsidence.

Enhanced public safety: It helps in emergency response by providing critical information during disasters such as gas leaks, pipe bursts, or earthquakes. It helps mitigate floods by identifying clogged or broken drains to address potential flood-prone zones.

Smart city integration: Real-time monitoring of the utilities is possible with sensors embedded in underground networks. Predictive maintenance and automated alerts also become easier.

Cost and resource efficiency: This prevents unnecessary excavation and reconstruction and guides the precise use of materials and manpower, cutting down on waste and costs.

Citizen engagement: Citizens can plan construction projects or report potential hazards near their homes with more insight if the data is public. They can report changes or inaccuracies and help keep it updated.