Integrated Geospatial Database and Web Based Tools for Land Management and Administrative Planning (ILMAP) for Imphal East and Thoubal Districts, Manipur State, India

Abstract

Manipur, as most of the north eastern area, come under hilly and difficult area, economically and infrastructurally underdeveloped area category. Manipur is facing the unenviable situation of being a resource starved State coupled with decades old insurgency widespread across the State, desperately crying out for a major thrust in inclusive development. As part of the initiative by the Govt. of India for the development of the north-eastern India, an Integrated Land Management and Administrative Planning (ILMAP) was taken up in Manipur State with the state-of-the-art technology. In the present work Imphal East and Thoubal Districts are selected. The objective of the study is to generate GIS database on drainage, water bodies, administrative boundaries, and other utility maps. The methodology involves geo-referencing of Quick Bird (QB) data with the help of DGPS survey. Drainage and surface water bodies, base map and land use/land cover maps are generated with the help of QB data. Point of Interest is mapped in all urban areas covering important landmarks such as Govt. offices, post offices, banks, religious places, and places of tourist interest etc., along with photographs and geographical coordinates. Using the soil maps generated by AISLUS and NBSS and LUP as a base, soil maps are prepared. All these maps are geo-referenced to QB satellite data. Using this database, a customized GIS application is developed for e-governance which can be accessed by authorized beneficiaries through State Wide Area Network (SWAN). The application was deployed in the State Data Centre (SDC) and training was provided to all the department officials for effective use in all developmental projects.