WAJAHAT SHABIR
SRINAGAR: The Central Government on Thursday said the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has implemented a series of satellite-based applications and space technology programmes across Jammu and Kashmir over the last five years, covering disaster management, agriculture, water resources, urban planning, environmental monitoring and digital connectivity.
Responding to an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Dr. Jitendra Singh said 12 operational communication satellites currently provide coverage over the Union Territory, with satellite capacity being offered to various service providers to strengthen telecommunication and broadband connectivity.
The Government said ISRO has undertaken several projects in J&K, including the Satellite Integrated Landslide Assessment and Alert System (SILAAS) for village-level landslide alerts, landslide inventory mapping across all districts during the 2023 monsoon, glacial lake inventory and Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) hazard mapping, and monitoring of watershed development programmes using geospatial technologies.
The projects also include mapping of urban water bodies in Srinagar, Jammu and Anantnag under the Urban Waterbody Information System (UWaIS), Geo-MGNREGA monitoring, the National Wetland Inventory and Assessment project, desertification and land degradation studies, long-term ecological research in the North-West Himalayas, and the Space-Based Information Support for Decentralised Planning (SISDP-U) project covering all districts of Jammu and Kashmir. Satellite-based land use and land cover assessments have also been carried out across the Union Territory.
The Government further informed the House that more than ₹395 lakh has been sanctioned for key ISRO-supported projects in Jammu and Kashmir in recent years. These include ₹220 lakh for the SISDP-U project, ₹75.78 lakh for the ongoing Land Use/Land Cover mapping project, ₹50.16 lakh for the SILAAS project, ₹27.62 lakh for watershed monitoring, ₹11.43 lakh for the National Wetland Inventory and Assessment project, ₹5.91 lakh for desertification studies and ₹4.95 lakh for WDC-PMKSY monitoring. The projects are being implemented by agencies including the Directorate of Ecology, Environment and Remote Sensing (DEERS), University of Jammu and University of Kashmir.
The Centre also said ISRO is continuing experimental landslide forecasting across all districts of Jammu and Kashmir under the SILAAS project and regularly conducts training programmes for disaster management agencies, including participants from the Union Territory.
Additionally, the Government said ISRO has established the Satish Dhawan Centre for Space Science at the Central University of Jammu to support research and learning in space technology. It added that tele-education services are being provided under the PM e-Vidya programme, telemedicine facilities are operational in Jammu and Kashmir, and the launch of the GSAT-N2 High Throughput Satellite in 2024 has further enhanced broadband connectivity across the Union Territory.
