Authority works — KMDA
KMDA GPR Survey for Trunk Mains, Flyovers and Drains
Corridor and crossing surveys for metropolitan projects on both banks of the Hooghly, across four corporations and 38 municipalities.
Quick AnswerA KMDA GPR survey maps the mains, sewers, cables and ducts along a metropolitan project route in the Kolkata region before work starts. It uses ground penetrating radar (GPR) backed by cable tracing. KMDA's area spans about 1,900 sq km across six districts and both banks of the Hooghly, so routes cross many owners. See details of utility corridor mapping.
What is KMDA, and how is it different from the city corporation?
The Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority plans and builds infrastructure for the whole region, while municipal bodies run the streets inside their own limits. KMDA was set up in 1970 and works under the West Bengal Town and Country (Planning and Development) Act, 1979. The state's urban development minister chairs its board, and its offices are at Unnayan Bhavan in Bidhannagar.
A KMDA job is tied to a larger scheme, such as a trunk main, a drainage project, a flyover or a township, and often crosses several municipalities. A ground penetrating radar survey has to follow the route through each one. For a single city street the owner is the municipal body; for Kolkata proper, see KMC Kolkata utility survey.
How large is the Kolkata Metropolitan Area?
Close to 1,900 sq km across six districts, on both banks of the Hooghly. It takes in Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas, with four municipal corporations (Kolkata, Howrah, Bidhannagar and Chandannagar) and 38 municipalities.
That spread is the main reason KMDA jobs differ from city ones. One alignment may run through three municipalities, along a Hooghly bank and across wetland, with owners and soil changing at each step. We still treat it as one corridor, set out as described in details of utility corridor mapping.
Which KMDA projects need an underground survey?
| Type of scheme | KMDA example on record | What the scan has to settle |
|---|---|---|
| Water treatment and trunk mains | 40 MGD treatment plant at Maheshtala, completed 2024 | Existing mains and cables along new trunk routes |
| River intakes | Panihati intake jetty, completed 2014 | Bank-side services and outfalls |
| Flyovers and road links | Maa Flyover, E.M. Bypass to Park Circus | Keeping piers and footings off buried lines |
| Storm-water drainage | Drainage works in Dum Dum | Lines that cut across the new drain |
| Bus corridors | Bus rapid transit along the Bypass | Full-width utility layer |
Table note: examples as listed in public sources; we have no connection with these projects.
How do river and canal crossings change the job?
They add depth, water and many owners in a short distance. The Hooghly, the old Adi Ganga channel and a web of drainage canals mean that pipes and cables in the region often cross water. Banks are where outfalls, intakes, old drains and cable landings bunch together, and where trenchless crossings are planned for construction projects.
At a crossing our crew covers each bank and its approach road, follows every energised cable and logs the chambers. The utility lines on both banks then go into one layered map; more about utility mapping describes those layers.
What is the ground like across the region?
Mostly soft deltaic clay and silt with a shallow water table, the most demanding ground there is for radar. GPR acts as a geophysical echo sounder. Its antenna fires brief pulses into the soil, and any boundary between materials, such as a pipe wall in clay, sends part of the pulse back. Wet clay has high electrical conductivity, so those echoes fade fast. Filled ponds and old channels also turn up under roads without warning.
Our response: low-frequency antennas on the deep mains, a locator on everything traceable, manhole depths to calibrate, and trial pits where a crossing stays uncertain. For the city's ground, open GPR survey in Kolkata details; for a worked case, read: utility survey guide for Kolkata.
What do we deliver for a metropolitan project?
A drawing set that works for the designer, the contractor and every line owner whose asset is crossed. Plans come in AutoCAD and GIS on the scheme's coordinates, with each crossed service, its depth and its owner if known. L-sections follow the main alignment where needed. The GPR data, chamber photos and unconfirmed lines are noted, and sheets are split by municipal boundary.
Who gives permission when a route crosses several towns?
Each road owner on the route, plus every utility whose line is crossed. A KMDA project may be planned at metropolitan level, but its roads belong to a corporation, a municipality, the state public works department or, on highways, a national agency. Power cables belong to CESC in the city and Howrah and to the state distribution company elsewhere. Railways, ports and wetlands add consents.
Your team files those applications, and we do not quote the fees or timelines each office sets. We scan the route end to end so boundary stretches are never skipped. Sheets are cut at each municipal line, each with a crossing list and a method note. If an office asks for an alignment change, only the affected stretch is rescanned and redrawn.
What does a KMDA utility survey cost?
₹24 per metre standard and ₹32 per metre for an L-section, a ₹1,00,000 minimum per project, GST extra. Region-wide programmes are reduced across the full order, by 25% once a job passes 100 km, by 40% beyond the 500 km point and by half above 1,000 km.
Standard scanning along a 30 km trunk-main corridor adds up to ₹7,20,000. Stretch a programme to 520 km across the region and ₹1,24,80,000 at list becomes ₹74,88,000 with 40% off. Chargeable travel is quoted on a separate line of the estimate. On either bank of the Hooghly our locally employed engineer begins on order day, and the wait never exceeds one business day.
How do we tie a route that crosses several towns?
A KMDA pipeline can pass through four or five municipalities, each with old maps on a local grid. We fix one control frame for the whole route through DGPS survey on Kolkata metropolitan routes, so the town sheets join cleanly. At canal banks, piers and pumping stations, a total station survey for detailed features picks up bank tops and chamber levels. A main crossing the Adi Ganga then shows its level against the bank.
Working with KMDA and its contractors
Mezux Touch's own field engineers. Field work has stayed in-house since 2003 and now totals over 1.5 lakh km, using 58 company-owned radars and 18 HDD machines under ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001. These crews have scanned KMDA projects on work orders placed by the authority itself. Contractors and consultants on its flyovers, intakes and drains hire them too, and all buried utilities identified and mapped are drawn in-house. Work in Salt Lake or Rajarhat is handled under booking a Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation utility survey. For KMDA utility mapping with an alignment to hand, price your Kolkata job.
Frequently asked questions
Is KMDA the same as the Kolkata Municipal Corporation?
No. KMDA is the regional planner and builder, whereas the corporation looks after the streets, water and drains within Kolkata itself.
Which districts are in the KMDA area?
Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas.
Do you cover towns outside Kolkata city?
Yes, across all six districts; more on survey coverage in Kolkata lists them.
Can levels be added for a drainage design?
Yes. Your drainage designer can have a topographic survey for Kolkata sites done in the same visit.
Can you survey along a canal bank?
Yes, provided the bank owner consents and we can get on safely. Banks often hold outfalls and old pipes among the underground utilities.
How are drawings split for several municipalities?
We draw the route as one, then issue sheets by boundary so each file reaches the right office with its own utility maps.
Get a written quote for KMDA works
Kolkata authorities
Written by Saniya Parveen · Technically reviewed by Rahul Rai · Updated 8 November 2026