MOU with NRSC for Watershed Development will ensure productive use of Geo-spatial applications for the rural masses – Shri Ajay Tirkey
The Department of Land Resources (DOLR) organized an event for signing of MOU with (National Remote Sensing Center) NRSC in presence of Shri Ajay Tirkey, Secretary, DOLR and Sh. S. Somanath, Secretary, Department of Space along with other senior officers from DOLR, Department of Space and NRSC here today. The event also included the release of Manuals by NRSC for the mobile application DRISHTI 2.0 and web-portal SRISHTI 2.0 for WDC-PMKSY 2.0.
DOLR has engaged NRSC with the main objective to monitor (Watershed Development Component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana) WDC-PMKSY 2.0 projects through high resolution satellite data for all the WDC 2.0 projects in States/UTs across the country; customized software tools on Bhuvan for Monitoring, online image comparison and visualization with respect to detailed project reports; create customized Bhuvan web page Srishti for WDC 2.0 project ; customized mobile application Drishti for field data collection and data transfer to Bhuvan; imparting training to concerned officials through a common standard course curriculum relevant to watersheds; analysis of land cover changes for the watersheds, impact analysis and reporting and creation of dashboard for project status reporting.
Secretary, DOLR, Shri Ajay Tirkey in his address expressed his appreciation for the long-standing partnership with NRSC and expressed his happiness that this continued association with NRSC with its Geo-spatial technology will help the department in achieving its ambitious goals and objectives under the WDC-PMKSY 2.0 scheme.
Addressing the gathering, Secretary, Department of Space & Chairman ISRO, Sh. S. Somanath expressed his happiness on the use of space technology by the department. He mentioned that WDC-PMKSY is one of the first schemes and a classical example of use of space and remote sensing technology for enhancing the decision making by the government. He also expressed that Bhuvan portal is immensely rich with data and there is a need to make it more user friendly to enhance its utility. Chairman ISRO also acknowledged the role of Prime Minister in encouraging and emphasizing the importance of space technology for use by various government departments/ ministries for a number of projects. He further assured the continued support and collaboration with DOLR for monitoring watershed projects.
Speaking on the occasion, Director, NRSC, Dr. Prakash Chauhan expressed his happiness on the continued collaboration with DOLR starting from WDC-PMKSY 1.0 and now WDC-PMKSY 2.0 for the geo-spatial monitoring of projects across the country.