Thiruvananthapuram: The on-going socio-economic survey , carried out as part of preparation of master plan of the city, is facing resistance by a section of residents The town planning department‘s land use and socio-economic surveys aim at garnering data on various development aspects of the city. The residents are wary of data leakage and objected to certain questions. Also, many find it time consuming.The socio-economic survey includes a total of 25 questions dealing with various aspects like source of water, proximity to schools, recreation, transport facilities, waste management, power utilisation, migration, etc. Questions regarding commutation are also included, with an intention to know about usage of public transportation and private vehicles on regular working days. Thirteen sub questions are included under this head to gather information on daily cost of public transport, average waiting time, average duration of travel, etc. The survey has so far covered 13 wards with a sample size of 250 households. It is progressing in 40 wards at present.“One cause of objection is that it takes a minimum of 20 minutes to fill in the questions. It is done via an app and hence data collection and uploading are done at the same time. Some residents have questioned the need of revealing information about commutation,” said an official associated with the survey.Around 25,000 households will be covered in the survey. Analysis of land use survey and socio-economic survey will be carried out simultaneously to avert any delay in formulation of draft master plan.In a recent review meeting held last week, officials had flagged the objection by residents. Mayor V K Prasanth said the concerns over data leak and indifferent attitude towards the survey were totally misplaced. “We are carrying the surveys to prepare a comprehensive data bank on the needs of the city. Any leakage of private information is totally out of question,” he said.The city corporation is already dealing with various issues, especially over allowing construction permits due to lack of a proper master plan. The city has to execute the sub-scheme of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), which aims at creating digital geo-referenced base maps and land use maps using geographical information system ( GIS).

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