Greater Bengaluru Authority GPR Survey for Corridors

What is the Greater Bengaluru Authority, and where does a utility survey fit?

Created by the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024, the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) sits over five new municipal corporations and plans and coordinates the metropolis. It replaced the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike when the Act took effect on 15 May 2025. The five corporations, Central, North, South, East and West, were notified on 2 September 2025. Together they cover roughly 712 square kilometres and 369 wards. (Sources: IANS, 15 May 2025; The Week, 2 September 2025; The South First, 20 November 2025.)

The Chief Minister chairs the GBA, with the minister for Bengaluru development as vice-chair. Its members include the heads of the Bangalore Development Authority, the water and sewerage board (BWSSB), the power utility (BESCOM), the metro company (BMRCL) and the bus corporation (BMTC). Its tasks include metropolitan planning, coordinating these agencies and approving infrastructure that crosses corporation boundaries.

A corridor that runs through two or three corporations, under lines owned by four or five agencies, needs one survey drawn to one standard.

What is the current status of the new set-up?

As of November 2026 the five corporations are run by appointed officials, because their first council elections have not yet been held. Final reservations for the 369 wards were notified on 7 March 2026. On 17 July 2026 the Supreme Court directed that polls to all five corporations be held in December 2026. The field work is unaffected, but the office that signs a permission may change, so check before you file. (Sources: The News Minute, 9 March 2026; Telangana Today, 17 July 2026.)

Who owns what under a Bengaluru road?

Ownership is split among the corporations and several state agencies, and the GBA sits above them as coordinator.

In practice, the corporation owns the road, its storm drains and street lighting. BWSSB owns water mains and sewers, BESCOM owns power cables, GAIL Gas runs the piped gas, and telecom operators own their ducts. Our drawing names the probable owner of each of the utility lines, which saves time when letters and permissions follow.

How do the five corporations compare?

They differ in size, ward count and ground. Zones follow the GBA list of September 2025, and ward counts follow the final delimitation. (Sources: Deccan Herald, 13 September 2025; The South First, 20 November 2025.)

Table note: for work in the old core and business district, see booking a Bengaluru Central City Corporation utility survey.

Jobs along the airport road and around the northern lakes are treated separately; see what a Bengaluru North City Corporation utility survey costs.

How does Bengaluru's ground affect the radar?

The city sits on old granite and gneiss under red soil and weathered rock, which is mostly fair ground for radar. GPR, a geophysical method for imaging the subsurface, sends electromagnetic waves that move easily through dry red soil. Near-surface boulders scatter the signal and create false buried objects. Wet, clay-rich silt in former lake beds has high electrical conductivity, and reach drops sharply there.

Rocky ground gets tighter grids and second-direction scans, and old lake beds get more locator work and trial pits. Cross-city soil differences are described on our page on GPR survey in Bengaluru. Corridor planners starting out can read more on utility survey guide for Bengaluru.

What should a cross-corporation survey deliver?

One consistent drawing set for the whole corridor, split cleanly at corporation boundaries. We issue AutoCAD and GIS files on a single coordinate system, a schedule of lines and crossings and chamber photographs. A quality grade for each line is added where the designer asks. Sheets break at boundaries, letting every corporation or utility lift out its portion unchanged; layer set-up is in details on CAD and GIS utility mapping.

Boundaries need care, because the 2025 changes split several assembly constituencies, and one familiar road can now fall under two offices. Before a Greater Bengaluru Authority utility survey starts, the boundaries go on the route plan and the sheet breaks are agreed. Chainages run continuously across the joins on arterial upgrades, valley drains and metro-linked construction projects alike.

Old BBMP records were kept by zone, and the zones have changed. They still point to likely lines, but every line is proved by data collection in the field before it is drawn.

What does the survey cost?

₹24 per metre for a standard GPR scan and ₹32 per metre for an L-section, with a ₹1,00,000 minimum per project in Bengaluru. Travel or mobilisation, where a GBA job attracts it, is set out in the quotation. On long programmes the whole order is discounted: 25% above 100 km, 40% above 500 km and 50% above 1,000 km. GST is extra. An L-section along a 12 km corridor through several corporations totals ₹3,84,000 before GST. The engineer assigned to GBA corridors lives in Bengaluru, and the first scan follows on the day the order lands or, failing that, the next business day.

How is one corridor kept on one grid across five corporations?

By fixing control once for the whole corridor, not separately in each corporation. Records from the five corporations, BWSSB and BESCOM were drawn at different times on local grids and rarely line up at a boundary. Our surveyors set one control network along the corridor before scanning, so a cable crossing a boundary stays one line. Control comes from DGPS survey across Bengaluru; median, footpath and flyover details are picked up by total station surveying.

Who carries out GPR survey on Greater Bengaluru Authority corridors?

A survey contractor with its own crews and equipment, working since 2003. The firm owns its 58 GPR systems, holds ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 certificates and pays every field crew directly. GBA corridor work reaches us either as a work order from the Greater Bengaluru Authority itself or as a booking by the contractor, its design consultant or a line-owning utility. For GBA utility mapping across corporation lines, send us your Bengaluru site details and the Mezux team will price the route.

Frequently asked questions

Does the GBA issue road-cutting permission itself?

In most cases, no. The road owner grants it, and for most Bengaluru streets that is now one of the five corporations. Check the current procedure before applying.

Do you work across all five corporations?

Yes. All five are covered, and a single crew can follow a corridor across several. For the wider area, survey coverage in Bengaluru at a glance gives details.

Can the utility drawing include road levels and features?

Yes. We can combine it with a Mezux topographic survey on the same coordinates.

Is BBMP still in charge?

No. The GBA replaced the BBMP in May 2025, and five city corporations took over civic work from September 2025.

Will old BBMP records still help?

Yes, as a starting point. They shape where extra passes run, though nothing reaches the utility maps until the GPR data confirms it.

Are night shifts possible on roads like Outer Ring Road?

Yes, by arrangement, where daytime traffic makes a ground penetrating radar survey unsafe.

Written by Saniya Parveen · Technically reviewed by Rahul Rai · Updated 8 November 2026