As a result of rapid urbanization, slum population in India is proliferating tremendously. Slumin general is a compact but crowded settlement of few households with poorly built temporary structures to dwell in; having inadequate facilities and unhygienic conditions. With a vision towards making the India slum-free, the Indian government has announced from time to time, various policies and regulations for the rehabilitation of these slums. As a first step towards implementation of these regulations, it is necessary to have these slum settlements analyzed with spatial data.
Carrying out survey of slum settlements deploying a manned team has always been a task like cracking a tough nut, as slums are generally gloomy with narrow passages and often with clogged sewages. Not only the geography but survey team may have to face stiff resistance from some hesitant dwellers and sometimes attracts allegations of favoritism too.
Drones equipped with camera and sensors if deployed to study the slum settlements, can carry the task in revolutionarily lesser time with more accuracy which otherwise would have taken months, if carried out by engaging a manned team.
We deploy a fleet of drones to map around depending upon the numbers of slums to give faster and accurate results. We clearly identify boundaries with size of slums and blend that data with on-the-ground surveys carried out to identify families residing in the slums. Pictures captured during each drone flight are processed as orthophotos, which are aerial photographs that have been geometrically corrected so that they have a uniform scale and can be used like regular maps.
