GHMC Bags M-Billionth Award

The Off Site Real Time (OSRT) system, being used by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), has bagged the m-Billionth Award for South Asia 2011 under the m-Governance category.

According to an official release by the GHMC, a Certificate was issued in recognition of the Off-Site Real-Time Monitoring System (OSRT) for developing and implementatng the Real Time Monitoring System that offers a Unique Accountability Mechanism through mobiles.

The Department of Information Technology, the Government of India and the Digital Empowerment Foundation, and the Grand Jury of the m-Billionth award South Asia have recognized the Corporation as the winner of the award for the year 2011, under the category of m-Governance.

The m-Billionth award recognizes innovations in telecom and mobile content and their application for the masses.

The OSRT system is being used to prevent unauthorized constructions or deviations to the sanctioned plan. The system helps the GHMC prepare an inventory of all ongoing constructions.

Apart from the construction works, the OSRT also monitors sanitation, garbage dumping, street lighting, parks and maintenance works.

GHMC officials were given 331 mobile phones to take snaps and feed the data to the central server to keep the OSRT updated.

The zonal city planners take the photographs of all ongoing constructions through the OSRT system.

While taking photographs, they indicate details of the building, like whether the builder under construction is permitted, and the building's deviations, if any.

The GHMC uses a software based on GPRS, GPS and GIS technology, and mobile phones to identify and pinpoint any illegal constructions going on in the city. (INN)