Every village in country mapped from space, Isro says; satellite data helps better rural projects

New Delhi: In a major development for India, the Indian Space Research Organization has mapped every village in the country from space and satellite data will go a long way in supporting gram panchayats in decentralized planning, asset monitoring and improved grassroots governance.Isro announced on the National Panchayati Raj Day on Friday that it has completed high-resolution land use and land cover mapping across the country at a scale of 1:10,000 – meaning 1 centimeter on the map represents 100 meters on the ground and is clear enough to distinguish paddy fields from ponds. According to the 2011 census, there were 649,481 villages in India.ISRO has made these satellite data available to government organizations. “This dataset supports the gram panchayat development plan and is integrated into the panchayati raj ministry’s Grammanchitra (village map) portal as one of the information layers, thereby enabling stronger, data-driven governance at the grassroots level,” Isro posted on X on Friday. Grammanchitra Portal is a tool designed to help local agencies take data-driven development decisions.Mapping of villages will help in effective formulation of gram panchayat development plans, enable data-driven decision-making and help in identifying land resources and usage patterns. Overall, it will increase transparency and accountability in the implementation of government projects in rural India.This work is part of a larger initiative to use satellite imagery, including data from the Indian Space Research Organization’s Bhuvan Geoportal, for disaster management, agricultural planning and infrastructure development in rural and remote areas. ISRO’s mapping of all villages in the country will go a long way in strengthening grassroots democracy.