Survey of India

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. 
• 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 CORS  (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