Tamil Nadu municipal administration minister S P Velumani, on Tuesday, inaugurated the project commissioning drone mapping of properties and utilities in the city, making Chennai Corporation the first municipal body in India to do so. “The mapping will facilitate planning of development work for the city on a priority basis,” Velumani told Times of India.

Two hexacopters, each fitted with high resolution camera that will capture five images in one second, will be used for mapping. The images from the drones will be superimposed and processed to generate 3D map of the city.

Each drone costs around Rs.21 Lakhs and Rs 6.43 crore will be spent by the corporation on the project and the city’s 426 sq.km area will be covered in 120 days.

The images captured by the drones will be first verified by the defence ministry before being made available to the corporation. Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board will be supervising the mapping initiative.