Maharashtra Forest Dept Gets New GIS Based Command Centre to Monitor Forest Reserve
Maharashtra – According to recent news by The Hindustan Times, in a first for the country, the Maharashtra State Forest Department will use real-time satellite images of all forested areas in and around the state through a command centre at Van Bhavan in Nagpur.
During an emergency, the forest department will consult premier institutes of India such as – Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Institute of Wood Science and Technology, Bangalore, Indian Plywood Research Training Institute, Bangalore, National Tiger Conservation Authority in Delhi and Indian Council of Forestry Research and Training, Dehradun – to resolve crisis situations.
The maps were made by integrating the management information system (MIS) with GIS through satellite technology with the help of Maharashtra Remote Sensing Applications Centre, Nagpur and then submitted to NRSC for uploading.
Forest Minister, Sudhir Mungantiwar said:
From 2017 onwards, we will get information on major forest problems plotted on a map on real-time basis. The process will be much faster through standard operating procedures for each issue and immediate instructions will ensure better management, which otherwise would not have been possible without technology.
The total cost for the project was Rs1 crore, out of which 45 lakh was for construction of the technology and remaining funds were allocated for integrating it across several digital platforms.
Our officers from the forest department can sit at the command control room and interact with these specialists of forestry and wildlife, housed in different parts of the country, on a real-time basis. And can get quality input from their side,” said P Srivastava, additional principal chief conservator of forests (APCCF) for information technology and policy, state forest department.
