Municipalities of Greater Mendoza go on the "hunt" for clandestine constructions with drones

• 04/04/2023
• By digitalheadphonecamera

Different municipalities of Greater Mendoza have joined in recent years the incorporation of technology for auditing and have gone on the “hunt” for constructions clandestine through drones. The situation in some communes is alarming, taking into account that in various areas it has been detected that at least half of the built-up surfaces are not declared.

Guaymallén, Luján de Cuyo and Capital are departments of Greater Mendoza that have advanced in recent years in the use of drones or quadcopters –case Capital< /b>- to have a more complete vision of their commune, in economic terms, and also to capture buildings clandestinely, that is, they have been built without municipal approval or verification.

In Guaymallén they started a few months ago with the use of a drone approved by the National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC), in which up to now they have determined that at least 50% of the constructions have not been registered with the department.

Gustavo Gallardo, director of the Guaymallén Cadastre , he told Los Andes that up to now the area of ​​Dorrego and Las Cañas has been surveyed, and they include parts of San José, Villanueva, Bermejo and El Sauce. b>

“We have detected many undeclared areas, at least 50% of what we surveyed”, the official noted, making it clear that they are not talking of small surfaces, such as extensions or pools, but of surfaces of at least 100 m2 and up, such as sheds or even complete houses.

In this sense, he added that there are "entire neighborhoods, with 50 or 60 houses" , that are not regularized by the municipality, such as Corralitos or Puente de Hierro.

Gallardo added that the regularization process began from the management of Marcelino Iglesias , because the information “was not clear” and that many files could not be found.

Regarding the fines, he pointed out that collection is not the main objective, but that a period of information and summons is opened first. “If we see that there is no predisposition on the part of the neighbor, there begins a surcharge, although we have not started with that yet” , she clarified.

In addition, he did not give amounts regarding how much could be collected, because the assessments “have a different impact depending on the area where the construction is located.”

Meanwhile, the use of the drone is not exclusive to the Cadastre Directorate, but other activities are measured, such as field measurements, leveling, planting, parcel status and levels of the commune. "With highly complex drones we have a more complete vision," added Gallardo, who also reported that there are engineers and geographers trained by the municipality to use these drones.

On the side of Luján, The Secretary of Government, Esteban Allasino, maintained that they have tools to survey with technology, such as drones, but that they are mainly used with a focus on soil studies, fire behavior or areas affected by heavy rains, to alluvial and defense improvements, developments in the growth of neighborhoods and populated areas, among others.

However, in terms of clandestine constructions, the results where there is more informality is in the peripheral areas, with an average 20% of all traces.

“In the urban and densely populated areas, we have not noticed major irregularities, especially since the management of sewage and water is done with the municipality, which does not leave room for there not to be some kind of of presentation of documentation in the commune", he marked, and maintained that the same thing happens with private neighborhoods, which "must be adapted and in order to start with their construction."

Another municipality that uses drones is Capital. Cristian Chavarini, coordinator of the Spatial Data Infrastructure (IDE) of the commune, said that in 2019 a quadrocopter was acquired with the aim of restoring the surface area of ​​the entire City of Mendoza, which was previously carried out with satellite images, but which logically did not have a degree of precision like that of drones.

“We noticed that with satellite images there were errors in the surfaces, especially with awnings or shadows of trees that were taken as covered surface. Now we have better quality and more professional”, he commented.

In this way, in 2021 a process of restitution of the Sixth Section, Farmacia neighborhood and the Fourth Section was carried out.

Meanwhile, in the last survey they noted that 800 of the 31,000 parcels in the Capital had irregularities. On the surface, there have been some 30,000 m2 that were not incorporated into the system, mostly home extensions.

With an eye on drones

Other departments of Greater Mendoza do not use drones, but some do study the possibility of acquiring them< /b>. One of them is Maipú. From the commune they highlighted that they are currently doing pilot tests for surveys with drones.

Meanwhile, they are currently managed with an aerial photographic survey that was carried out in 2020. Through this information, a strategy was designed through which those who had clandestine constructions could regularize them through special payment plans , as highlighted by the municipality. However, they did not provide data according to the percentage of irregularities in undeclared constructions.

On the side of Godoy Cruz, it is a practice that it is planned for the future. “We are not thinking about punishment, but about ordering the department territorially”, they noted, and although they admitted that the percentage of constructions that are not in order are many, they did not provide further information on the matter.

Meanwhile, in Las Heras they continue with the satellite imagery system, and for the moment they are not thinking about acquiring drones. Facundo Scelzi, director of Private Works and Cadastre of the municipality, said that they have implemented a system in which they can see by register the constructed surface area proven according to each file, as well as debts and state of municipal taxes, as well as well as the census of the public trees of each property.

“The tool allows us to see differences from year to year. If we detect irregularities, we will place a summons, but we have very beneficial moratoriums so that the neighbors can catch up”, he said.

He also expressed that there are “many” undeclared constructions. For example, only in 2021, 22,000 clandestine m2 of 57,000 m2 of new construction were noticed, that is, almost 40%.

“The idea is to go to drones in the future, but this multi-data system is very useful for us. We have all the information loaded and with instant access,” he said.