Aerial ground survey for Delhi-Varanasi high speed rail corridor begins
18 Jan 2021
Work on the Delhi-Varanasi High Speed Rail Corridor gathered momentum with the starting of the LiDAR aerial ground survey of the proposed corridor starting on Sunday. A helicopter fitted with state-of-the-art aerial LiDAR and imagery sensors took off from Greater Noida and captured data related to ground survey.
National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited is using Light Detection and Ranging Survey (LiDAR) technology, which provides all the ground details and data in 3-4 months. This process normally takes 10-12 months.
The ground survey is a crucial activity for any linear infrastructure project as the survey provides accurate details of areas around the alignment. This technique uses a combination of Laser data, GPS data, flight parameters and actual photographs to give accurate survey data.
During the aerial LiDAR survey, 300 metres (150 metres on either side) of area around the proposed alignment is being captured for the survey purpose. After the collection of data, three dimensional (3D) topographical map of 50 metres corridor on either side of the proposed alignment on a scale of 1:2,500 will be available for designing of the vertical and horizontal alignment, structures, location of the stations and depots, land requirement for the corridor, identification of project affected plots/structures, right of way etc.
As per the nine standard benchmarks set by the Survey of India in this field, 86 master control points and 350 secondary control points have been established and these coordinates are being used for flying the aircraft on Delhi-Varanasi HSR corridor alignment.
The LiDAR survey uses 60 megapixel cameras to provide clear pictures of the structures, trees and other minute ground details.
NHSRCL has been entrusted with the job of preparing detailed project report for seven high speed rail corridors, while LiDAR survey technique will be used for ground survey in all the corridors.
As per the detailed project report for Delhi-Varanasi High Speed Rail Corridor submitted to the ministry of railways in October 2020, the high speed rail line will connect the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi with major cities like Mathura, Agra, Etawah, Lucknow, Raebareli, Prayagraj, Bhadohi, Varanasi and Ayodhya. The main corridor from Delhi to Varanasi (approx 800 km) will also be connected to Ayodhya. The High Speed Rail (HSR) route will also connect the upcoming international airport at Jewar in Gautam Buddha Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh.