7,935 small towns and cities in the country will be covered under the database, for planned development programs.
Union Urban Planning secretary Sudhir Krishna, on Tuesday, said that the generation of the multi-scale Hierarchial Urban Geospatial Database on Thematic content for various levels of Urban Planning and Infrastructure Development would be hosted on website www.bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in within the next two weeks, for the general public.
Inaugurating a one-day workshop on National Urban Information System Scheme at the National Remote Sensing Agency at Balanagar, Sudhir Krishna said that 7,935 small towns and cities in the country would be covered under the database, for planned development programs, including storm water, irrigation, sewerage lines, water supply, solid waste management, road improvement and urban transport systems.
Apart from this, he said, the database would be useful in the rural and urban planning and in identifying forest land and open land for better utilization.
"This pilot project has been adopted in 152 cities and towns, including Adilabad, Dharmavaram, Madanapalli, Nalgonda, Srikakulam, and Tadepalligudem of Andhra Pradesh," he said.
Stating that the government was conducting the study with the assistance of World Bank, he said that small towns could not be covered under the study due to the paucity of funds.
The local bodies would issue bonds to raise the funds for the development of their respective towns, he pointed out.
He also said that NUIS would also provide funds for a satellite survey with the collaboration of the Town And Country Planning Organisation, Survey of India, and the National Remote Sensing Agency.
Stating that 700 staff members have already been trained for this purpose, he said that another 1,000 members would undergo training soon.
He said that the delay in the satellite survey had occurred due to a shortage of funds and expert staff. (INN)