GHMC to set up urban information centre

HYDERABAD: Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is setting up an urban information center. The digital portal will act as a one-stop destination for residents as well as officials in case they need information about civic amenities and infrastructure.

As of date, residents can check the nearest playground, parks, etc on the GHMC website but there is no provision to check dilapidated buildings, a list of open plots, and status about roads and sales.

Apart from residents, the digital portal will help officials while executing projects as the data of different zones and circles will be available in a single window. “Once the digital door numbering starts, all the data will be uploaded along with geo-coordinates. Once the exercise starts we will also have an idea about un-assessed properties in the city, ” said a GHMC official.

GHMC consists of 150 wards divided into 30 circles. Each circle is headed by a GHMC deputy commissioner.

As of date, there is a single portal for access details of building permissions through TS-bPASS and property tax details but there is no provision to check the details of circle-wise civic works taken up. The officials can check the status of trade license, property tax dues, mutations, and status of birth/ death certificate but cannot see the status of roads or drains laid.

“If we want to execute any infrastructure work in the city which needs a review of the road restorations works or Nala works which are under-way, we need to collect the data from all the 30 circles, compile it and check the feasibility of the project/infrastructure work, the urban information center will put an end to the traditional method,” said a GHMC official.

To set up the information center, officials from the Directorate of Economics and Statistics are being roped in by GHMC.