In News
- The Government of India has announced that the Survey of India will remain the final authority on maps with State and national boundaries.
About:
- With the guidelines released by the Department of Science and Technology in 2021, Survey of India (SoI) had lost the monopoly on making high-resolution maps.
- The Government in December 2022 released the National Geospatial Policy of India that allowed any private agency to make high resolution maps.Â
- With the current announcement the government has clarified that Survey of India will
- remain the arbiter of maps that deal with State borders and national boundaries
- continue to maintain CORS (Continuously Operating Reference Stations) that are necessary to create accurate digital maps.
What are CORSÂ (Continuously Operating Reference Stations)?
- CORS are the infrastructure necessary for the creation of accurate digital maps. They monitor the Earth’s crust for accurate measurement of the properties of the earth.
- It consists of a GPS receiver and a stable antenna operating continuously to stream raw data.
National Geospatial Policy of India
- It aims to promote the country’s geospatial data industry and develop a national framework to use such data for improving citizen services.
- It plans for the establishment of Geospatial Knowledge Infrastructure (GKI) such as Integrated Data and Information Framework and National Digital Twin to drive forward the geospatial economy.
- To enable the easy availability of valuable Geospatial data, it plans for the constitution of a Geospatial Data Promotion and Development Committee (‘GDPDC’) for formulating and implementing appropriate guidelines, strategies, and programs.
Survey of India
- Established in 1767 it is the oldest scientific department of the Government of India.
- Headquartered in Dehradun, it acts as an adviser to the Government of India on all survey matters, viz Geodesy, Photogrammetry, Mapping and Map Reproduction.
- It is the National Survey and Mapping Organization of the country under the Department of Science & Technology.
Source: TH
