Latest News | DOLR Signs MoU with NSRC to Monitor Watershed Development Projects Under PMKSY

New Delhi, Oct 17 (PTI) The Department of Land Resources on Tuesday signed a pact with the National Remote Sensing Centre to monitor the Watershed Development Component (WDC) projects under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, the Rural Development Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said the National Remote Sensing Centre (NSRC) will monitor the watershed development projects through high-resolution satellite data and customize software tools for monitoring the projects on the Bhuvan website - an Indian web-based utility, which allows users to explore a set of geographic content prepared by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).

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They will also facilitate online image comparison and visualisation with respect to detailed project reports, customise the Bhuvan web page 'Srishti' for WDC 2.0 projects, and customise the mobile application Drishti for field data collection and data transfer to Bhuvan.

Imparting training to concerned officials through a common standard course curriculum relevant to watersheds, analysis of land cover changes for the watersheds, impact analysis and reporting, and creation of a dashboard for project status reporting will also be done.

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Speaking at the event, Secretary, the Department of Space and Chairman Isro, S Somanath said WDC-PMKSY is one of the first schemes and a classical example of the use of space and remote sensing technology for enhancing the decision-making by the government.

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) was launched in 2015-16 to enhance physical access to water on farms, expand cultivable areas under assured irrigation, improve on-farm water use efficiency, and introduce sustainable water conservation practices.

It is an amalgamation of ongoing schemes like the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) of the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR, RD&GR), Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) of the Department of Land Resources (DoLR) and the On Farm Water Management (OFWM) of Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC).

The scheme is being implemented by the Ministries of Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Development. The Ministry of Rural Development is implementing the Watershed Development Component (WDC), which includes water conservation, and the construction of farm ponds, water harvesting structures, small check dams, and contour bunding, among others.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)