HYDERABAD: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is actively considering documenting and capturing the detailed history of roads through oblique cameras within its limits to avoid unnecessary recarpeting and misuse of funds.
There are more than 9,010 km of roads in the twin cities, and there is hardly any reliable data on when cement concrete (CC) or bitumen (BT) roads were laid, recarpeted, or relaid over the years on any particular stretch.
Each road in the city will be assigned an ID number, and all work done in the name of road laying or recarpeting will be registered online.
By entering the ID number of a road, its entire history will be accessible—whether it is a BT or CC road, how thick it was laid, the initial cost, how many times it has undergone repairs, and the total expenditure. This will make it possible to track the complete history of the road.
The GHMC will undertake this exercise as per the state government’s directives. The total length of roads under GHMC is 9,013 km, of which 6,166 km are CC roads and 2,846 km are BT roads.
Hundreds of crores are spent annually on recarpeting, operation, and maintenance of roads in the city. GHMC officials are frustrated with contractors who repeatedly raise concerns about payment of bills. A vigilance investigation was even conducted to assess the quality of their work, revealing several flaws.
The GHMC authorities stated that advanced technology, such as oblique cameras, will be deployed in the coming days to prevent such issues and curb the wastage of funds.
How do oblique cameras work?
In normal satellite images, only what is above the road is visible. Oblique images, however, show what lies beneath the road. These cameras capture photos from different points at oblique angles (typically around 45 degrees) rather than straight down.
This makes it possible to determine how many layers the roads have accumulated and how much they have risen over time. These cameras are designed to provide a comprehensive view of an area, capturing both vertical and horizontal perspectives.
They also reveal how many layers of the road have been laid since its initial construction. The cameras are equipped with two or more lenses, and their shutters are synchronized to work simultaneously. Engineers explained that with images taken obliquely from different areas, it is possible to determine how deep the road was originally laid.
The benefits include the ability to assess the extent of damage to roads, with cracks and potholes becoming clearly visible, especially during floods. Structural defects will also be revealed. This not only prevents unnecessary increases in repair costs but also ensures transparency in the quality of work done.