Civic body to use GPS to keep track of city’s trees

3 April 2012 BMC’s Tree Authority is finally catching up with technology: it has decided to use Global Positioning System (GPS) to keep a track of all trees in the city and its suburbs.

The civic body hopes that once all trees in the city are identified through their GPS locations, it will become to easier to track their growth and identify if any have been illegally chopped.

In a project for which the budget allocated is Rs 6 crore, officials from the Tree Authority will also note details of the tree, right from identifying its biological name to minute details such as girth, height and life expectancy and upload them on their server along with their GPS markers. The trees’ latest photographs will also be uploaded, which will help the officials identify them with greater ease the next time.

Additional Municipal Commissioner Aseem Gupta said this is a far cry from previous censuses which focussed on the counting of trees and recording their biological names.

“The forthcoming tree census will have a detailed perspective. Tentatively, it will start on June 5, which is the World Environment Day, and will take around eight months to be completed,” he added.

The data that the new census will collect should excite nature lovers. For example, the census will include details on native and exotic categories of trees present in the city. It will also reflect which trees attract more birds.

One of the most interesting aspects of the study will be that every tree’s capacity to absorb carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide will also be recorded.

The census will also reflect the longitude and latitude of the roads next to the trees. Using this data will help the BMC identify what trees will be affected during road widening projects and how it will affect the city in the long term, said Gupta. “This will help protect more trees and identify how many more need to be planted,” he added.

The BMC is currently inviting tenders, looking for outside agenxcies to help it with this survey. A tree census is supposed to be conducted every five years as per the Tree Act, 1975. The last census in the city was conducted in 2008, but the one before was conducted in 1998.

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/2012040320120403085055948ed93d26b/Civic-body-to-use-GPS-to-keep-track-of-city%E2%80%99s-trees.html