Mumbai Metro to implement geographic info system

Mumbai's Metro rail system, which is scheduled to take off by next year, will have a Geographic Information System (GIS) for mapping the entire rail tracks and nearby areas to enhance safety, maintenance and traffic regulation.

Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL) — the special purpose vehicle promoted by Reliance Infrastructure, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and French multinational firm Veolia — is implementing the GIS along the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar (VAG) corridor in Phase-I of the project. This is a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country for Metro rail management, company sources said.

The GIS system will map the exact location of the trains and all emergency services, including fire stations, police stations and hospitals along the alignment. In case there is a fire incident or other emergencies, the exact location of the nearest fire station or police station can be identified with the help of the GIS map to ensure speedy response, the sources said.

MMOPL is building Phase-I of Mumbai's metro project at a cost of Rs 2,356 crore on an 11-kilometer route between Versova and Ghatkopar. GIS, which leverages the power of Global Positioning System (GPS) for real-time asset tracking and monitoring, can map data in various layers and represent it in the form of a map.

A land base data for the entire Mumbai city is already with the company. Once the construction of the VAG corridor is complete, locations of the piers, viaduct and stations will be imported into the GIS. Each layer in the GIS will map a certain feature along the Metro-I alignment. There are layers pertaining to trees, tracks, piers, building, rolling stock, bridges, roads, distribution transformers and utilities.

Each of these layers can be selected or deselected as per the requirement. GIS will also be useful in maintenance of the system, like diversion of traffic if required when the whole system takes off, said officials.

"With the help of GIS maps, the exact location of the fault along the network can be determined and a team can be dispatched immediately for speedy maintenance," explained a company spokesperson.

Reliance Infrastructure has already implemented this system for its power distribution business in Mumbai and Delhi to track the power distribution infrastructure and at Reliance Power's Rosa power plant, said a company spokesperson.