BENGALURU: Karnataka forest department is not just using technology to detect and control forest fires, they are also using it to check modification in land use. For the last three months, successful trials are going on and the project will be officially announced soon.
The forest department has digitised all their land records and base maps as old as 1970 and compared that with the revenue department records for verification. With the help of ISRO and Karnataka State Remote Sensing Applications Centre (KSRSAC), the forest department has digitised 80 per cent of the data.
“Normally, land use surveys used to be done while patrolling on foot or during revenue surveys. Now with the help of satellite images and algorithms, any change in land use can be instantly detected. The changes include encroachment, chopping of trees or drying up of water bodies. This is the first of its kind in India,” a senior forest department official told TNIE.
Explaining how it works, the official said that the image is first placed on the base map, and once the change is ascertained, the image is captured and sent to the concerned division for action. The images are sent through an in-house portal, along with an SMS alert.
The concerned deputy conservator of forest or range forest officer will have to visit the spot and check the modifications, take action and make a report. For example, in Ballari, a land owner chopped trees in the forest fringe. This was captured through a satellite and an alert was sent to the concerned division. It was later revealed that two rubber trees were axed.
“Normally, any check on encroachment, trees reduced to stumps or any other activity is found only after two to three months, sometimes even later. But now, we get a fair idea within 21 days, as that is the cycle duration of each location on a 10:10 scale,” he said and added that they are trying to reduce the number of days.
“Right now, we are trying to address the cloud cover issue by using radar satellites. Work is also being done to detect cases in buffer zones and outside forest areas,” the official added.