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News Desk, 11/16/2018
The Indian government is looking at leveraging geospatial technology and remote sensing to give an impetus to its ongoing river cleaning work, reported Times of India. On the occasion of World Geographic Information System (GIS) Day on November 14, the Centre shared its plan of using technologies like LiDAR and GIS to attain high-resolution maps and data for the entire Ganga river basin by next year.
The National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) along with ISRO and Survey of India will also help to acquire precise geo-reference terrain features of the river basin.
Speaking on the occasion. Union water secretary U P Singh said, “Lack of reliable data is the biggest challenge in the water sector. It is important for monitoring, planning and taking feedback.”
However, the decision does not come as a surprise as the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), a nodal authority to implement and monitor the government’s ongoing ‘Namami Gange’ (Ganga rejuvenation) program, has already tied up with the Survey of India to have high-resolution Digital Elevation Models (DEM) to monitor the entire basin.
This would not only help in identifying the entire topography, but also help the policymakers to make more informed decisions. Giving a wider perspective, Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga said, “These models will provide valuable information for use not only in making urban river plans but also for identifying baseline of river floodplains and regulating them for their restoration and preservation.”
Mishra further said, “We are using GIS technology in improving the work of Namami Gange. The high-resolution GIS-enabled data will help in regulating the proposed protected and regulatory zones along the banks of river.”
The area of this project extends up to 10 KM on both sides of the banks of Ganga. The major task of the project is to unite GIS ready database along with administrative boundaries up to village level and make proper public drainage network database under it.
ISRO is also taking an active part in this project. Geospatial and remote sensing technology would be used to assess the water quality of the river. Currently, the ISRO backed Bhuvan Ganga Geoportal is actively playing its role in the monitoring of water quality, hydrology, geomorphology and bio-resource.
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