Our Correspondent
KOHIMA, APRIL 6
Nagaland State Level Meet on “Promoting use of Space Technology and Application in Governance and Development” was held today at Capital Convention Centre here.
The programme is a follow up of National Meet on ‘Promotion use of Space Technology in Governance and Development’ which was held on September 17, 2015 at New Delhi, wherein Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address emphasized the need to institutionalize a mechanism for integrating space application in governance and development. Accordingly, state governments are to organize similar brainstorming workshop at state level with various stakeholders.
Gracing the inaugural session as chief guest, Parliamentary Secretary Planning & Coordination, Evaluation and Taxes, Neiba Kronu said that space technology application has become a necessity today, be it in agri & allied sector, health sector or infra-developmental activities.
Elucidating the importance of Geographic Information System (GIS), Kronu said the application can be used for monitoring traffic in terrain area like Nagaland.
Kronu said, due to unresolved Naga political issue in the past, development activities in the state have been slightly hampered, but the present younger Naga generations have learnt to utilise the modern technologies and moved forward to compete with the rest of the world.He said, the state government has been trying to bring in investors for various development activities but they are reluctant after receiving the manually provided data. However, he is hopeful that with the new technology, Nagaland will move forward with the rest of the world.
Reflecting on the importance of Space Technology and the role it can play and the impact that it can have to the lives of the people, Er Mhathung Kithan, Project Director, NGISRSC in his keynote address said ‘we are here today to be able to pursue opportunities for better governance in our state. It is perceived that better governance at all levels of our communities is essential for the advancement of our people and our state’.
Contrary to popular belief that technology is not the only answer to all problems faced by state, Mhathung said appropriate technology investments and capacity building are pre-requisites for growth and progress of any state or nation.
He pointed out that space technology and GIS applications today have emerged as one of the leading technologies that contribute to sustainable economic growth and development challenges. “The use of space technology has been accelerated by developments in information and communications technology and with more people getting involved with the study of space technology, applications can now go beyond traditional topographic and terrain mapping,” he added.
Highlighting on the capabilities of cutting edge technologies like Remote Sensing, Geographic Information System, Photogrammetry and Global Positioning System for planning and development on sustainable basis, Mhathung pointed that space technology and its applications involve large scale sharing of data and information which demands a coordination and mutual respect between organizations. He expressed the hope that such state meet would help in building necessary capacity for better governance and all round development of the state.
Giving a power-point presentation on ‘Indian Space programme,’ Dr M Paul, ISRO, Department of Space, Government of India, said that State level meet in Nagaland is the fifth in the country and second for Northeast region.
Also highlighting India’s accomplishments of space, Dr Paul said, the country has successfully launched 130 missions and 57 satellites. He said, November 5, 2013 was the historic day for India for successfully launching India’s first inter-planetary probe Mars Orbiter, despite facing many technological challenges.
He said India is the fourth space agency and first Asian country to successfully reach Mars, and came out of the solar conjunction in July 2015.
Some of the projects executed in Nagaland, he informed, are Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission, Land use/land cover mapping at 1:50k 1st and 2nd cycles, land degradation mapping, wasteland mapping and monitoring, national wetland inventory and assessment, application of remote sensing and GIS in sericulture development, spatial assessment of soil carbon pool project, national urban information system, road information system, urban sprawl study of Kohima town and geo-environmental appraisal of Mokokchung town.
Nagaland GIS and Remote Sensing Centre, Kohima, will act as nodal centre to implement projects in collaboration with line-departments.
Later, Neiba Kronu also inaugurated the Geospatial exhibition gallery which was followed by a thematic session with all the line-departments wherein presentations were put forward.
The programme was organised by the Nagaland GIS & Remote Sensing Centre (NGISRSC), Planning & Coordination Department jointly with The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) & North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC).
Over hundred key areas of development have been identified for use of space technology with an estimated outlay of Rs 120 crore. In this regard, a document containing all concept notes/proposals has been prepared for submission to government of India.
The document is the final outcome of the thematic session at the ‘state level meet on promoting use of space technology and applications in governance and development’ at Kohima wherein 37 line departments presented power-points on the key areas of development.
Informing this, RB Thong, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary & Development Commission, said 20 more are expected and that proposals will be submitted very soon to the Centre.
Acknowledging pioneer space scientists who had the vision about the usefulness of space technology, Chief Minister TR Zeliang in his address to the participants this evening, said physical distances, remoteness of geographical locations and poor physical connectivity etc can be overcome to a large extent.
He expressed the hope that the geographical isolation and remoteness of the Northeast region will soon become a thing of the past, through better development and use of space technology.
The chief minister also expressed his happiness that Nagaland has made much progress in various space technology applications, such as GIS, Remote Sensing, Photogrammetry and Location Based Services (LBS), state wide GIS & IT based projects in the fields of health, education, disaster management, vehicle tracking, e-learning, 3D terrain modeling, natural resource and land use mappings, weather reports and forecasting etc, which are being done in collaboration with various national organisations.
Zeliang is optimistic that the state level meet will give a big boost and encouragement to the efforts of the various departments of the state government in making use of space technology for day-to-day governance, as well as for delivery of public utility services and development of the state.
Congratulating the state GIS & Remote Sensing Centre, ISRO, NESAC and the Department of Space, Government of India for organizing the state meet, Zeliang encouraged them to take up more of such programmes in the future.
PLN Raju, Director, NESAC/ISRO, Department of Space, GoI in his power-point presentation on ‘Strategies and way forward’ said, with the initiative of the prime minister, there are new initiatives of 170 applications for 60 ministries/departments.
Earlier, Er Mhathung Kithan, Project Director, NGISRSC highlighted that through the use of space technology and application, communications satellites can be used to connect people in remote areas. “They provide medical expertise to areas where specialized personnel are not available.”
Communications satellites, he said, can help students and teachers to access improved educational content. “They promote business and growth. Remote sensing satellites improve health and safety by providing information that leads to disease avoidance and food security.”
Mhathung also pointed out that remote sensing can help sustainable development by informing policy-makers about changes in land use. “It can also be essential to providing timely aid in the event of a natural disaster.”
Caption: Chief Minister, TR Zeliang and others seen during the state level meet on ‘Promoting use of space technology and applications in governance and development’ held at Kohima on Wednesday.
