Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

‘Atlas’ simplifies local-level planning

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said here on Thursday that the government had identified land for the proposed Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology to be established here.

Addressing a function to release a resource atlas and digital database for Kerala, he said the land would be handed over to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) soon. The Chief Minister was responding to a remark by ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair about the paucity of land for prestigious projects like IIST.

Mr. Achuthanandan said the unscientific exploitation of land and water resources was a major problem in Kerala. He said the government was trying to recover large chunks of property appropriated by land sharks at several locations in the State. The Chief Minister hoped the resource atlas and database would help streamline the planning process and spur development activities.

Delivering the keynote address, Mr.Madhavan Nair said the resource atlas developed by the Centre for Earth Science Studies and the Kerala State Remote Sensing and Environment Centre, with funding from ISRO, was the first of its kind in India. He said the digital database would provide key inputs for better utilisation of land and water resources.

Mr. Nair said ISRO was setting up a network of Village Resource Centres all over the State to disseminate the information in the database and equip local self governments for better micro level planning. Vice chairman of the State Planning Board Prabhat Patnaik termed the development of the resource atlas a remarkable collaboration between scientific institutions. Mr. Patnaik received the first copy of the atlas and database from the Chief Minister.

The resource atlas and digital database use satellite data and GIS (Geographic Information System) to provide key inputs for micro-level resource management and planning by local self government institutions.

The data will supply the panchayats with accurate information to analyse a range of parameters including land use pattern, disaster prone areas, population density, literacy, male-female ratio and occupational structure at the local level.

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