21. Geospatial Technologies for Development of Cadastral Information System and its Applications for Developmental Planning and e-Governance

Space-based geospatial technology, because of timely availability of information derived from remote sensing data on the desired scale, along with the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) including Geographical Information System (GIS), has accelerated the process of developmental planning and e-Governance initiatives in the country. With the advancements in satellite remote sensing technology, which is providing data with the best spatial resolutions, mapping has been possible at larger scales, progressing to the cadastral level (~ 1:4000). This rightly caters to the requirement of current Government programs to provide planning at village and gram panchayat levels. High-resolution satellite data is considered the ideal operational source for georeferencing the village cadastral maps. Overlay of the georeferenced cadastral maps on the high-resolution satellite data helps in carrying out detailed natural resource mapping to characterize each land parcel to understand their potential and limitations in terms of various natural resources and terrain characteristics. These include surface and groundwater availability, soil and land capability, geology, lineaments, and rock formations, geomorphology and the terrain characteristics, present land use including agriculture, forest, wastelands, water bodies, and the available infrastructure. Integration and geospatial modeling of these parameters facilitate cadastral level planning, development, and management for several applications. These include management of agricultural and horticulture, forest, land resources, surface water conservation, groundwater development and recharge, reclamation of wastelands, planning industrial corridors, planning for new and self-sustained townships, and several other infrastructure and amenities planning. Information and planning maps derived through the Remote Sensing data at the cadastral level, along with the ICT including GIS, are used in various e-Governance services in the country. Apart from providing online village-level services, it caters to the use of ICT for strategic village-level development planning, thus reaching the development goals of the government. This chapter discusses the geospatial techniques and methodologies for the generation of georeferenced village cadastral systems and presents some of the main applications of georeferenced cadastral maps for developmental planning and e-Governance with case studies from Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.