Karnataka - Mysore   

State is undergoing a process of desertification: ISRO official

Special Correspondent

`Northern districts will be hit if corrective steps are not taken'

HARNESSING SPACE TECHNOLOGY: A satellite image of Bangalore. Satellite imageries help in identifying problem areas and facilitate proper planning for their development.

MYSORE: It is wake up call for Karnataka as satellite imageries and data from remote sensing satellites and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have proved that the State is undergoing a process of desertification and has the second largest dry land after Rajasthan in the country.

Combine this with a report on declining forest area in the State and the north Karnataka belt could be lost in the near future. This is not a dooms day scenario painted by sentimental eco-activists, but are concerns arising out of latest information from remote sensing applications and photogrammetry of the Karnataka State Remote Sensing Applications Centre (KSRSAC).

V. Jayaraman, Director, Earth Observation Station, Regional Remote Sensing State Centres, ISRO, said here on Saturday that Karnataka is undergoing rapid desertification and cautioned against complacency in this regard.

He stressed the need to harness space technology to map the changing land profile and take corrective measures, failing which the State risks losing its northern region.

He was speaking at the inaugural function of the Regional Centre for Geoinformatics of the KSRSAC. The Mysore centre is on the SJCE campus and there are plans afoot to have a full-fledged campus near the Chamundi Hills for which 15 acres of land has been sanctioned. Dr. Jayaraman said the land profile of the State varies from region to region and this is best appreciated through satellite imageries and GIS database. While places such as Agumbe receives more than 7,600 mm of rainfall annually, there are places that suffer from drought while the water table is rapidly declining. Hence, it is imperative to harness the potential of remote sensing and GIS for sustainable development of the State.

Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji, who inaugurated the centre, expressed concern over the burgeoning population and pointed out that Nature is being vandalised in the name of development.

Director of KSRSAC H. Honne Gowda, Director (Technical) of JSS Mahavidyapeetha H. Dhananjaya, and Deputy Commissioner Selvakumar were present.

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