PMC uses AI to monitor cleanliness and urban amenities

Time of India

4 days ago

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Prayagraj: In a progressive step towards enhancing urban cleanliness and monitoring, the Prayagraj Municipal Corporation has initiated trial to monitor city's lanes using Artificial Intelligence (AI), following the successful use of AI surveillance on major roads.
The trial aims to extend advanced monitoring system, which covers cleanliness, street lighting, encroachments, and illegal dairy activities, into the narrow bylanes of the city. Currently, corporation has equipped the Quick Response Team (QRT) vehicles with cameras and GPS devices to conduct surveillance of lanes alongside the main roads. These cameras capture real-time data, which is analysed with the help of AI to identify cleanliness issues, encroachments, and other violations quickly.
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nce the trial phase concludes successfully, the plan is to equip all garbage collection vehicles, which cover the city's lanes and residential areas, with similar camera and GPS technology. This will allow for modern, comprehensive surveillance of nearly all the lanes in the city. Deputy Municipal Commissioner Deep Shikha Pandey explained that the AI-based monitoring on main roads yielded positive results.
"Based on this success, we intend to replicate the model for the lanes. AI surveillance will help improve cleanliness in lanes, enable immediate reporting of debris and encroachments, and assist in prompt corrective action," she said. The AI surveillance initiative is also expected to positively impact Prayagraj's ranking in the next Swachh Survekshan (Cleanliness Survey).
Prayagraj is the first city in Uttar Pradesh to implement AI technology for monitoring major roads, a pioneering move that is now expanding into the more complex network of the city's lanes.
In another major development, the Municipal Corporation recently completed a comprehensive survey of over 1.72 lakh buildings in the city's expanded limits, which include both developed, undeveloped areas. The survey revealed that over 80,000 buildings still lack minimum urban amenities, highlighting the uneven spread of infrastructure across the city.
The tax department of the corporation has decided to issue property tax notices this financial year only to those building owners who receive basic urban facilities.
Before sending these notices, a thorough cross-check was conducted to verify urban amenities in the extended limits. This exercise uncovered many areas still predominantly rural in character, where municipal services are minimal or absent. Chief Tax Assessment Officer PK Mishra emphasised the challenge, stating, "It is unjustified to levy property tax on residents in areas where no urban facilities exist.
Therefore, a re-survey is underway to clearly demarcate urban and rural zones in the expanded region." According to Mishra, approximately 8,000 buildings identified as part of developed areas have already been subjected to property tax collection from the financial year 2024-25 onward.