Bihar starts Geo-mapping Water Bodies

The Bihar state government has started geo-mapping its water bodies by an exercise called ‘jalkaro’. It is to be carried out by Bihar Remote Sensing Application Centre.

Geo-mapping

Geo-mapping is the process of using GPS (Global Positioning System) to survey the land and sub-surface features to get a detailed view of the area. This is used to study the water bodies distributed across the state in this case.

About the Project

The exercise, locally called ‘jalkaro’, is to map the water bodies across the state. It is carried out before and after the monsoon period using GPS. It will also survey water bodies that disappeared due to encroachment and those that aren’t recorded in the official documents.

Purpose

It is to help in developing the wetlands in the state- locally called chaurs. It will help in identifying water bodies affected by encroachment and other anthropogenic activities. It will help identify water bodies that went missing (dried up) in the past decade. This will help in ensuring proper usage, water harvesting and conservation.