Cuttack, Sept. 22: The municipal corporation has started a GIS-based survey to detect un-assessed properties in the city.

The Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping of properties has already started at the satellite township of Markatnagar on the western fringes of the city.

Official sources said the Cuttack Municipal Corporation was the first civic body in the state to have adopted the GIS-based property survey to enhance its revenue by bringing un-assessed properties under the ambit of holding tax. This will ensure revenue enhancement reform measures to bring in more transparency as well as preparing a digital database.

The GIS-based surveys usually assist in analysing infrastructure, property assessments, road, water supply, sewerage and drainage networks, building constructions and solid waste management.

According to the preliminary GIS mapping, the civic body has detected over 4,000 un-assessed properties at Markatnagar. The properties are either new constructions or extension of existing buildings, official sources said.

An expert team of the civic body will verify the GIS data in a phased manner to keep an updated and authentic database of the houses and buildings, including both private and government ones. "We have formed four special squads, led by senior officers, assistant engineers and tax collectors, to conduct a field survey for physical assessment of properties based on the GIS data collected," said municipal commissioner Gyana Das.

The civic body has started the project with necessary technical support from the state government. It plans to identify un-assessed properties at Mahanadi Vihar in the second phase and the remaining areas in all the 59 wards by the end of this year.

Das further said that in this year's budget, the corporation had set a target of Rs 10 crore as revenue from property tax or holding tax. An amount of Rs 3.80 crore was collected by the end of August, while the revenue collection would cross the target after proper assessment of the un-assessed properties by the yearend. The civic body had collected Rs 8 crore from property tax last year.

Official sources said, property assessment and tax collection are important for municipal corporations, as property tax is the main source of income to carry out various projects. The civic body is also working to come up with the facility of online payment of property tax shortly in the city.

The process of collection of holding tax through GPS-enabled hand-held electronic devices has reached its final stages. The civic body has earmarked Rs 21 lakh for computerisation of all data related to revenue collection, digital document management system as part of the e-office project here.