Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Natural data census on cards

Orissa Remote Sensing Application Centre (Orsac) has decided to undertake a natural resources census of the state.

The organisation hopes that the census would provide a clearer picture of the state’s status in terms of natural resources by providing a systematic inventory and creating a standardised Geographic Information System (GIS) database.

The Union government’s department of space assigned Orsac to conduct the survey as a part of the first natural resource census for the country this fiscal.

With 2007-08 as the base year, the census would be conducted every five years.

“In the phase-I of the census, survey of land use and wetland use would be carried out for 314 blocks in Orissa,” the organisation’s chief executive Debajit Mishra told The Telegraph.

The Census will help generate maps and statistics of blocks with accurate and updated information on resources and physical aspects of terrain in terms of land use and cover, crop area and type, water bodies, drainage, soils, coastal areas, weather and climate, ground water sources, forests, urban growth and mineral resources.

Mishra said the variety of data — demographic data, agro-economic data, infrastructure data and socio-economic data sets — would help plan and implement development activities such as watershed, land, animal and forest management and agro-climatic zone planning better.

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