Jammu: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Wednesday sought a comparative analysis report on encroachment of water bodies using latest and earlier data.
An official spokesman in a statement issued here said that addressing a convention of GIS professionals, government officials, entrepreneurs and young students that was organised to mark the World GIS Day here, the LG highlighted the significance of the emerging GIS technology to address new challenges and explore a new horizon of opportunities.
He said the encouragement to spatial thinking, development of new Geographic Information System (GIS) tools, and real-world applications are accelerating the growth in business, government and society.
The GIS technology ecosystem is offering new communication tools to different sectors and making a greater impact in areas like Weather Forecast, Urban & Transport Planning, Security, Biodiversity Protection, Telecom, Agriculture, Environment, Asset Management and Navigation Services, he added.
Speaking on the reforms introduced in the past 8 years to revolutionize the GIS technology across the country, the LG said, “Under the guidance of Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi, GIS has now become the mainstay of development planning and being widely used in the planning and monitoring of development works.”
He said about 1000 GIS applications every day were being used by professionals, researchers, and common citizens in more than 50 sectors to address various challenges and opportunities.
The LG also shared the efforts of the government for introducing GIS to address the efficiency of urban and industrial planning, better decision-making for new reforms in agriculture, modernization of land records, road safety, smart city projects, connecting producers and markets, preserving biodiversity and ensuring equity in the society.
He said GIS was playing a crucial role in the identification of forest boundaries, GI tagging, J&K green drive, conservation of wetlands, and census of water bodies.
Observing that geographic approach is the only way to integrate all the information available for sectoral growth, the LG stressed the need to prepare a report on the encroachment of water bodies through comparative analysis of latest and earlier data.
He said that the latest census of 2815 water bodies in J&K by the Remote Sensing department can be used for mapping flood risk areas and sharing information with all concerned departments in an integrated manner.
“With the help of GIS, traffic accidents can be tackled through identification of accident locations, hotspots,” the LG said.
He advised all the concerned departments to collaborate to use GIS in network design, network optimization, and data enhancement in remote areas.
“GIS can help in better planning of schemes and asset allocation according to the population and their needs,” the LG said. “All stakeholders, GIS professionals, research scholars, and administrative officers need to prepare a scientific framework based on GIS for data capturing and optimum utilisation of remote sensing, and GIS technology applications for better decision making.”
He also called for spreading awareness among the people about benefits of the GIS and its various applications in the development of society.
Commissioner Secretary to the Government, Forest, Ecology and Environment Department Sanjeev Verma shared the achievements and the future action plans of the department.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Mohit Gera extended his greetings on World GIS Day and briefed the gathering on the new initiatives of the Forest Department using GIS technology.
On the occasion, the LG launched Jammu and Kashmir Remote Sensing Information System – JKRIS, a Spatial Data Infrastructure initiative, and g-SAM (Gram Panchayat Spatial Assets Mapper) mobile app.
He released reports of the Department of Ecology, Environment and Remote Sensing on the ‘Assessment of Inherent Vulnerability of Climate Change’ and ‘Internal Monitoring of Wular Lake and its Immediate Catchment – a geospatial approach’.
The LG also inaugurated the second edition of the Green Life Contest and felicitated the winners of the Green Life Contest-1 from Jammu region.
He also released a postal cover on ‘Chinar Tree’.
Postmaster General, Jammu Region, Col Vinod Kumar, Administrative Secretary, Revenue Department Vijay Kumar Bidhuri, Administrative Secretary, Mining Department Amit Sharma, Deputy Commissioner Jammu Avny Lavasa, and Director Ecology, Environment and Remote Sensing, Rakesh Kumar were also present on the occasion.