Navi Mumbai: NMMC Floats Tender For Tree Census In City Using GIS, GPS Systems Mapping

After a gap of around six years, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) will conduct a fresh tree census under its jurisdiction. The last tree census was conducted in 2016 and a total of 8.5 lakh trees were recorded. The fresh survey will help to know about heritage trees and protect them.

A tender has been floated to appoint a contractor to undertake a Census of trees within its jurisdiction using GIS/GPS technology. It also intends to develop or procure the application software for managing the workflow of the tree authority and data of the Census of trees.

Heritage and non-heritage trees

The civic body will conduct a census of trees in two parts — heritage and non-heritage trees. Heritage Tree means trees having an age of more than 50 years and are defined according to guidelines of the Maharashtra government. Non-heritage trees are under 50 years old. The civic body is expected to spend around ₹20 crore on the work.

In November last year, the civic body completed the groundwork to begin the tree census. The NMMC’s Tree Authority received approval from the civic chief Rajesh Narvekar.

GIS and GPS systems to be used

The new census of trees will use the Geographical Information System (GIS) and GPS technology to operate and manage the tree census data. It will also use satellite imaging for the mapping of trees.

According to an official from the Tree Authority, the Census of trees will be carried out in respect of trees having a girth of 10 cm or more and three meters of height. “Census of tree will be carried out using GIS/GPS technology enabled devices with manual efforts and the information will be mapped to the satellite imagery of NMMC,” said the official. He added that the appointed contractor will be provided with all the necessary documentary approval for the procurement of the image.

6 months deadline

The selected vendor or contractor will have to complete the census within 6 months from the allotment of work. However, the vendor will have to maintain the application software and the Census database for a period of 5 years or till the next tree census from the appointed date.

The civic official informed that the surveyor will have to provide the tree’s details such as the name of the tree (including scientific and common names), and height of the tree among others in the digital form, including the Geo-tag location of the tree. All surveyed data will be available on centralised repository and on Web Portal.

Published on: Friday, June 30, 2023, 08:59 PM IST