Visakhapatnam: Andhra Pradesh plans to create a huge data base of all the lands in the state using satellite images, aerial cameras, LiDAR, airborne geophysical instruments, as part of its Geographical Information System (GIS) policy.
The aim is to use geographical information for effective planning and implementation of all major development and welfare programmes through the establishment of a holistic GIS eco-system.
The State will also put the GIS assets, except the confidential or secret in nature, in the public domain for free and nondiscriminatory access by the citizens, developers and technology companies, at a nominal price, which is to meet the cost of maintenance of such GIS assets.
The state government drafted the GIS policy recently. According to the policy, a mobile GIS and app-ecosystem, which is a large set of GIS-based apps, will also be developed that can be accessed by public through smart phones.
AP GIS Portal “Swarna Bhoomi”, which will act as a single point of reference for authorised personnel of the government departments for using and updating the GIS assets, will also be developed.
Stakeholders of AP GIS, including the departments and agencies of the state and union governments, general public and businesses, GIS industry and academia, can also have access to the portal.
“The mission of the AP GIS policy is to G-enable all the major projects, programmes, schemes and activities of the government. The objective of the policy is to provide a basis for rational and scientific planning of all major development projects regarding urban development, capital region development and infrastructure like power, irrigation, ports, airports and transportation,” said an official of IT & C department.
The AP GIS policy will be governed by AP Space Applications Centre (APSCA), under the planning department of the Government of Andhra Pradesh.
