Union Minister of State(MoS – Independent Charge) Dr Jitendra Singh, Ministry of Science and Technology(MoST); Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) & Department of Space(DOS), launched two advanced Geoportals – ‘Bhuvan Panchayat (Version 4.0)‘ for rural land records and ‘National Database for Emergency Management (NDEM Version 5.0)’ for disaster management.
- The Geoportals were developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Key people:
Somanath, Secretary of the Department of Space and Chairman of ISRO, Ravi Chandran, Secretary of Earth Sciences; and other senior officials were present during the event.
About the new Geospatial Tools:
i.These geospatial tools, meant for visualisation and planning, will provide high-resolution satellite imagery at a 1:10,000 scale for different locations across India.
ii.The Union Minister also noted that a command centre is established to monitor the situation continuously and deliver valuable insights.
About Bhuvan Panchayat (Ver. 4.0) Portal
i.The Bhuvan Panchayat Portal will support “Space-based Information Support for Decentralised Planning (SISDP)” and empower citizens at the grassroots level in Panchayats.
ii.This aims to promote ease of living by reducing dependency on local administration for land records and revolutionising land record management by digitalization and land revenue management.
iii.This provides citizens direct access to real-time data and reduces corruption at the grassroots level.
iv.The Portal provides citizens direct access to real-time, space-sourced data for land records, reducing reliance on local administrations.
About NDEM Ver. 5.0 Portal:
i.NDEM Ver. 5.0 will provide space-based inputs on natural disasters and support disaster risk reduction in India and its neighbouring countries.
ii.This will play a major role in leveraging space technology for disaster management, enhancing preparedness, and promoting sustainable development through effective land use monitoring.
iii.The database utilizes satellite technology to offer critical insights into natural disasters, enhancing early warning capabilities in India and neighbouring countries.
iv.It establishes an efficient early warning system, enabling administrations to pre-emptively respond to disasters and protect citizens from natural calamities.
v.The database also monitors Land Use/Land Change (LULC), providing valuable information for sustainable land management and environmental planning.
About the Department of Space:
The ‘Department of Space’ is an Indian government department responsible for the Indian space program.
Union Minister(Prime Minister)– Narendra Modi (Constituency- Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh)
Minister of State(MoS)– Dr Jitendra Singh (Constituency- Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir)
