Mumbai

Ina major move to ensure transparency and maintain quality in government-funded development projects across Maharashtra's Urban Local Bodies comprising Municipal Corporations, Municipali-ties, and Nagar Parishads, the state government on Wednesday decided to leverage advanced tech-nology.

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Geo-Tagging, and GIS Mapping will now be utilised to conduct tech-nical and social audits of public works.

The decision stems from an announcement made by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde during the Monsoon Session of the State Legislature, where he emphasised the phased implementation of technology-driven audits to enhance accountability, transparency, and quality in urban infrastruc-ture projects.

Fulfilling that commitment, the state government has issued an official Government Resolution (GR) constituting a special study group led by the Commissioner and Director of the Directorate of Municipal Administration.

Urban local bodies frequently face allegations regarding substandard construction, poor infrastruc-ture maintenance, and misallocation of funds in roadwork, water supply schemes, and civil pro-jects.

With real-time tracking through Geo-Tagging and AI, authorities will now be able to monitor eve-ry execution stage directly, which is expected to significantly improve quality standards and opera-tional transparency, the GR said.

"Under the new audit framework, modern technology and community participation will be inte-grated.