Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh today launched two Geoportals namely ‘Bhuvan Panchayat (Ver. 4.0)” portal for rural land record and “National Database for Emergency Management (NDEM Ver. 5.0)” developed by Indian Space research Organization (ISRO), here today at Prithvi Bhavan.
These latest geospatial tools are meant for for visualisation and planning to provide high resolution satellite imagery of 1:10K scale for different locations across the entire country.
“Launch of these portals is a sequel to reforms introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last one decade”, saysUnion Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Earth Sciences, MoS PMO, Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space and MoS Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Dr. Jitendra Singh. Recalling the journey which began soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over in 2014, it was in the beginning 2015-16 a brainstorming session on applications of Space Technology for the benefit of infrastructure development, planning, disaster risk reduction and land record management, weather forecasting, agriculture development was discussed.
The minister congratulating team ISRO on the launch of Geoportals said “We have not only launched rockets and reached the sky but we are also mapping the earth from the sky”. The Science and technology minister said “Space- Technology has virtually entered every household. We have rightfully carried forward the vision of our founding father of space technology Shri. Vikram Sarabhai who believed that development in Space will have a multifaceted impact on life of Common citizens, be it telemedicine, digital India, identifying unmanned railway crossings.”
Dr. Jitendra Singh reiterated that the priority of the government is to integrate various services and allow common citizens to take benefit from it. He mentioned that the outcome of policy decisions under Modi Govt. in the last few years opened the space sector for Private participation having a positive impact from one startup in 2022 to more than 200 startups in 2024. Dr. Singh also highlighted that it was this government which opened the gates of Sriharikota during the launch of Chandrayaan for the masses to come and witness India Prowess in Space Sector. He also shared that nearly 1000 crore rupees of private investment has come in the space sector.
Highlighting the importance of ‘Bhuvan Panchayat Portal’ to support “Space based Information Support for Decentralized Planning (SISDP)” and empower the citizens at the grass root level in Panchayats’ the minister said this is continuing our efforts to empower the citizens at the grass root level and allow them to take benefit of these services, to promote ease of living by reducing the need to depend on local administration for land records and revolutionize land record management by digitalization and land revenue management. The tools will provide real time data at the tips of citizens and reduce corruption at the grass roots level.
Speaking on the benefits of National Database for Emergency Management (NDEM Ver. 5.0) which will provide space-based inputs on natural disasters and aid in disaster risk reduction In India as well as neighboring countries. To prevent the citizens from vagaries of nature and put in place an effective early warning system so that administration can proactively prevent the disasters and inform us regarding the Land use Land change(LULC).
He also shared that a command centre is established to monitor the situation continuously and provide Valuable inputs. Dr. Jitendra Singh said these portals will prove very useful as the Swamitva Portal which acts as a role model for many countries in terms of land record and land revenue management is concerned.
Shri. S. Somanath, Chairman ISRO, Secretary Dept. of Space expressed gratitude towards Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh for his continuous guidance and leadership. Shri Vivek Bhardwaj, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj; Shri. Ravi Chandran, Secretary, Earth Sciences; Shri. S.K Jindal, Addl. Secretary, MHA; Rajesh S. Inspector General of Forest, Moefcc; Manish K, Dy. Director General , GSI M/o Mines and Dr. Prakash Chauhan, Director, NRSC were also present for the launch ceremony.
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