GIS technology push to Panchayati Raj

Mohali: Under the outreach programme ‘Empowering Panchayati Raj Institutions Spatially (EPRIS)’ initiated by NRSC, Indian space Research Organization (Isro), department of space (DOS), a 1-day district level workshop was jointly organized by Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC), department of agriculture and zila parishad at the Administrative Complex, Mohali on Monday.

Ravinder Singh, deputy CEO Mohali briefed the utility of geospatial technology and geo-tagging for social and infrastructural development and planning in a simple manner. He emphasized to utilize the accurate maps prepared by PRSC which are available on Bhuvan web portal.

Ravinder exhorted the officers to understand the technology to apply for the benefit of the society especially benefiting the poor and needy sections. He further suggested how village wise assets can be mapped using the GIS and GPS based technology and integrated with available maps.

V K Verma, head, natural resource & environment and principal investigator of the project made an interactive presentation on EPRIS and apprised that GIS technology provides effective decision-making tools for day to day planning and to understand the matrix of natural, social, cultural variations for future challenges.

He indicated that PRSC is actively working in dissemination of GIS technology in the rural areas of Punjab and will be conducting more such workshops at district and block levels for making aware the officers of Panchyati Raj and general public to use this technology.