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Saturday, February 28, 2009

BMC will take flight to deal with floods

Mumbai: The BMC will no longer rely on archaic maps while drawing up plans against natural disasters such as floods. In a first of its kind initiative (first municipal corporation in Asia), civic officials will travel on a private helicopter on Thursday to capture vital locations and floodprone areas on a camera. The flight will cross the city over a period of one month to complete the process.
    The permission to carry out low-lying aerial photography required for contour mapping in the city came from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) last month. Contour mapping is a significant aspect of the flood modelling system which is practised worldwide.
    "The planes are all ready with cameras. The permission from the defence ministry came early but it took long to obtain permission from the air traffic control (ATC). In fact, we will have to take permission from the ATC every day before flying,'' said additional municipal commissioner R A Rajeev.
    After the deluge in July 2005, the Madhav Chitale Committee had emphasised the need for a fool-proof flood system to guide civic authorities
during rescue efforts. The committee had recommended that a contour map survey be conducted, recording the contours at intervals of 5 metres.
    A senior official from the storm water drain department said that the mapping would help identify the location of structures above sea level. "When we compare the height of a location above the sea level (which is taken as 0 m), we will know exactly what needs

to be done, the chronic flood areas and what relief can be given to these spots,'' he said.
    "The benefits of this type of flood modelling also involves digitised maps. Contour mapping can point to the depth, height and steepness of slopes,'' he added.
    The BMC has appointed two private firms—MWH from Mumbai and ORG from Gurgaon—to carry out the exercise.

WHAT IS CONTOUR MAPPING ALL ABOUT?
    
Contour mapping can point to the depth, height and steepness of slopes. The mapping requires low lying aerial photographs that are taken by cameras attached to the air planes. Once the maps are in place, it will be easy for the civic body to carry out relief and rescue operations during a flood-like situation. TNN


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