AI surveillance to track illegal constructions, mining in Har

Chandigarh: Haryana to institutionalise drone technology as a core governance tool, deploying AI-powered surveillance and high-resolution geospatial mapping to detect illegal constructions, monitor mining, map civic infrastructure and track pollution statewide.

At the meeting of the Board of Directors of Drone Imaging and Information Services of Haryana Ltd (DRIISHYA) here on Monday, Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi assessed progress on key technology initiatives. Rastogi also instructed officials to accelerate implementation to support evidence-based governance, regulatory enforcement and public service delivery.

The meeting highlighted the AI-powered Change Detection Application, which automatically identifies unauthorised constructions and encroachments using high-resolution drone imagery. Nearly 800 sq km have been mapped across Faridabad, Hisar, Karnal, Panipat, and Yamunanagar, creating one of the state’s largest urban geospatial databases for planning, monitoring and enforcement, an official statement said. Rastogi also reviewed DRIISHYA’s digital mapping of municipal assets in Gurugram.

Commissioner and Secretary, Citizen Resources Information Department, J Ganesan informed the meeting that the project has digitised road networks, footpaths, central verges, and berms, and nearly 60,000 manholes and gully traps are being geo-referenced with centimetre-level accuracy.

This digital inventory is expected to improve urban infrastructure management, maintenance planning, and emergency response. During the review of monthly drone surveillance at Khanak Stone Mine, eight phases of drone surveys are complete and volumetric assessment reports for six phases have been prepared, the statement said.

This initiative enables scientific monitoring of mining activities and accurate assessment of excavation volumes using advanced geospatial analytics. The meeting also reviewed drone-based volumetric assessments of legacy waste sites under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, it said. Ganesan informed that surveys have been completed across 16 municipal councils, and reports have been submitted to authorities to support scientific remediation of waste dumps and improve landfill management.