Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) Prakash Javadekar virtually released the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) based survey of forest areas for 10 states. The survey is the 1st of its kind in India which uses LiDAR technology.
- The 10 states are Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Nagaland, and Tripura. It is the 1st time that Central funds have been utilized for surveying of forest areas at such a large scale.
- The LiDAR survey will help in identifying water and fodder in jungle areas thereby reducing human-animal conflict. It will also assist in identifying areas that need groundwater recharge, which will benefit the local communities.
- The survey was carried out by WAPCOS Ltd (formerly known as Water and Power Consultancy Services Ltd), a PSU under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India at a cost INR 18.38 Crore in 26 states over 2,61,897 hectares (DPRs for remaining 16 states to be released shortly).
Key Points
i.The LiDAR technology was used to create 3-D images of the project areas for recommending soil and water conservation structures.
- These structures will help in catching the rain water and prevent stream run off, which will help in recharging of groundwater.
ii.Javadekar emphasized State Forest Departments to use CAMPA funds (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) to implement the project. It follows the ‘Ridge to Valley’ approach of watershed management.
- WAPCOS with the participation of State Forest Departments identified one major ridge inside a forest block in the states with an average area of 10,000 hectares in each state for preparation of DPR.
- These DPR will help in planning and identifying locations and structures for construction of appropriate and feasible micro soil and water conservation structures consistent with site specific geography, topography and soil characteristics.
Recent Related News:
On March 9, 2021, India’s first Forest Healing centre was inaugurated by noted environmentalist Joginder Bisht in the pine dominated forest located at Ranikhet in Kalika Uttarakhand.
About WAPCOS Ltd
CMD – Debashree Mukherjee
Head Office – New Delhi
About MoEFCC
Union Minister – Prakash Javadekar (Rajya Sabha, Maharashtra)
Minister of State (MoS) – Babul Supriyo (Asansol, West Bengal)
