Mapping agency advocates geospatial maps for civilian use

The Survey of India, the country's national mapping agency, today advocated dilution of policies to enable use of geospatial maps for civilian purposes.
Surveyor General of India (SGI) Swarna Subba Rao said geospatial maps by the Survey of India (SoI) are largely used for defence purposes.
"Historically, maps were mostly used for defence purposes. Greater use of geospatial maps for civilian purposes will help in reducing burden on government exchequer by 5-10 per cent as the data helps in better planning of any project.
"The policy currently is imbalanced. There were restrictions on usage of geospatial maps by the civilian sector," Rao said, adding the SoI prepares maps for several areas.

The SGI said several countries like the UK have an "open policy" on the use of geospatial data.
"In 2005, we came up with a policy of having separate maps for defence and civilian sides. However, some data which can be still used by the defence side can also be shared with the civilians. There should be further dilution of policy to enable this," he said.

Established in 1767, the Survey of India operates under the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Rao said, with multiple agencies like ISRO's National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) doing similar work there is often a "turf war" between the ministries and the SoI is treated as a "subordinate office".

He also emphasised on greater participation of private players for growth of this sector in the country.