Jharkhand has now become the first State of the country equipped with a Geographical Information System where information about the water table on the surface and ground in any part of the State can be availed at the click of the mouse.
This ambitious and arduous task was carried by the Jharkhand Space Application Centre which used satellite images to compile accurate details of water bodies across Jharkhand. The programme was supported by the Indian Space Research Organisation.
“We are no more dependent on vague and inaccurate data. We have compiled thorough details pertaining to every part of Jharkhand. One can know about availability of water in a particular area,” JSAC director AT Jeyaseelan said. The sensing technique has been able to locate water available on the surface as well as beneath it upto a depth exceeding 80 metres, Jeyaseelan said.
On Tuesday, Chief Minister Arjun Munda will inaugurate the Automation of Water System and EDUCAT online programming technique of JSAC. AWS is an online system through which surface and underground water positions will be made available. EDUCAT is another online application that will provide necessary contact details and other related information.
A few years ago, efforts were made to identify the ground water prospects at sites in the Lower Sanjai Watershed of Kolhan division based on GIS techniques and satellite mapping. But the current achievement is significant in magnitude.
While remote sensing and GIS have proved to be pathbreaking in getting actual status of volumes of water it is going to help the State Government in a big way in its further plans of systematic urban development and water supply. Now the Government has decided to make this data available to the key departments like agriculture, drinking water and sanitation and water resources. The Government has decided to maintain a data bank at each block and district headquarters of Jharkhand with specific details of the surface and ground water scenario, which will be of immense help to the local public in searching water sources within the available land area.
“It will help us immensely in ascertaining the location of a bore-well in a particular area. It will also help in pinpointing the area where the water table has fallen drastically. The department is in the process of receiving data very soon. To a large extent, it will minimise the cases of tube wells and hand pumps running dry in a short span of time,” Principal Secretary, Drinking Water and Sanitation Department, Sudhir Prasad, said.
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