National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA)

It is therefore crucial that we look after this resource and ensure that it is managed properly.Over reliance on groundwater for both domestic and commercial purposes has led to over-exploitation and contamination of groundwater. In order to make groundwater sustainable, there is a need to understand the aquifer characteristics as well as its overall geological setting.

Assam represents a highly flood-prone region characterized by severe hazards of floods. Although occurrence of flood has been an age-old phenomenon in the riverine areas of this region, the extent of damage caused by floods has increased significantly in recent years.

Introduction

Irrigation development is essential to ensure water and food security on a sustainable basis. Large scale development of irrigation infrastructure is the key to achieve these objectives. Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Program (AIBP) was launched by Government of India during 1996-97 to provide financial assistance to State Governments with the aim of speeding up the implementation of on-going irrigation / multi-purpose water resources projects. Monitoring of the projects covered under the AIBP is periodically done by the Central Water Commission / Ministry of Water Resources with the help of its regional offices situated all over the country. In the absence of real time maps during construction, the conventional monitoring is done through discussions with field authorities and random field checks. The monitoring reports with non-spatial information generally lack in the synoptic view of the critical gaps and the quantitative progress achieved in irrigation potential creation.

The availability of data from Cartosat - 1 and Cartosat - 2 high resolution satellites has enhanced the scope of infrastructure mapping and monitoring. This data has immense potential for assessment of progress of Irrigation works and closer visualization of spatial irrigation network.

 Himalaya is one of the youngest mountain systems on Earth, and has a direct influence on the climate, hydrology and environment of the Indian subcontinent. It is the abode of one of the world’s largest and mostly inaccessible area of glaciers outside the polar region and provides glacier-stored water to the major Indian river basins. Many of the Himalayan rivers are fed by snow and ice melt run-off from snow fields and glaciers.

 Fluoride (F) is harmful to human health and knowledge of spatiotemporal distribution of F content in groundwater is thus a prerequisite for taking preventive measures.

The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India (GOI) had been asked to identify ESAs along the Western Ghats, and to suggest how to manage them. The concept of ESAs has been extensively discussed in the literature. Several ESAs have been set up in India over the last 22 years under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, and a GOI committee under the chairmanship of Pranob Sen has proposed certain criteria for identification of ESAs.

This report presents the latest Wastelands Atlas, put together by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) and National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) developed as a part of the “National Wasteland Monitoring Project”. The mapping efforts have generated valuable datasets on unutilized/vacant lands and their use in watershed and wastelands management.

The three sets of Wastelands Atlas of India by NRSC comprise -