Natural resources data management system - A spatial approach to micro-level planning

Natural resources data management system - A spatial approach to micro-level planning

R. K. Midha, P. S. Acharya, Bhoop Singh
Department of Science & Technology*
New Mehrauli Road
New Delhi-110 016 India

Abstract
With the present emphasis on decentralizing the process and practice of planning to the various hierarchical units down the line, t has become essential to have comprehensive up-to-date location specific databases and spatial profiles. under the Project Natural Resources Data Management System, efforts are a foot to develop and operational methodologies for establishing geo-referenced computer based databases which allow study of different parameters in a holistic and integrated manner. pilot scale databases have been set up in a few selected districts located in different geo-environments. The NRDMS methodology is founded on the concept of Geographic Information System. Parameters relating to natural resources, socio-economy, agro-economy, infrastructure etc. are stored in the databases. Integration of conventional and remote-sensing data helps in filling the data gaps and in monitoring temporal features. Adequate attention is given to capturing the specificity of the areas to help chart out strategies for area-specific planning. On the basis of databases so far set up, study of problems relating to optimal management of water resources, land evaluation and natural disasters 9landslides, drought miligation0 is being attempted. Decision support models are being developed to provide handy and effective tools to the local administrators for developmental planning and monitoring.

Background
It is well recognized that natural resources splay a pivotal role in the economic development. In our country, ever since the beginning of structural planning in the form of Five Year Plans, the management of natural resources has been given prime importance. Further, from time to time, a need for instituting a mechanism for multi-level planning has been felt so as to take the process and practice of planning closer to the grass root level. In the mid-fifties and sixties, the process of decentralization of planning started taking roots. A number of committees were set up by the Government to examine the various issues connected with grass root level planning and implementation. However, not much headway was made in actual implementation as there were inherent weaknesses in the available administrative framework and technical capabilities existing at the lower, levels. The Working Group on District Planning (Planning commission, 1984) took note of these limitations and elaborated on the remedial measure. One of the important recommendations of this Working Group related to building up of micro-level spatially referenced resource inventories. The Study Group on information Gap (Planning Commission, 1989) further reiterated this need and has identified some data gaps. Decentralized planning is now accepted as an important instrument of the Government aimed at reduction of regional and sub-regional disparities.

The need
In our country there is a well established theme oriented mechanism for collection of data at the macro-level. It has the advantage of a vast and elaborate network for manual in-situ data collection. The conventional modes of data management, however have the following limitations :

Multiplicity of agencies generating similar but incompatible data sets
No regular procedures for updating the data periodically
Practices of storing data are not amenable to efficient retrieval.

Thus, in effect though vast amounts of data are collected, they are not optimally utilised and often are not accessible to the planners/decision-makers in time in the desired format.

Realizing the above, the Government of India has launched the NRDMS project to address specifically to the problems of natural resources data management at micro-level. The emphasis is on integration of data from different sectors/sources so as to develop a comprehensive Geographic information System (GIS) at the micro level which can operate in a multiuser environment (Burrough, 1986, DST, 1986: DST, 11983). Under the Projct, efforts are underway to set up pilot swcale computer based databases in a few selected districts situated in different eco-geologic settings:

District	Setting
Pauri	Mountainous terrain
Gurgaon	Plains adjacent to the large metropolis of Delhi
Alwar	Arid region
Sultanpur	Plains Prone to frequent floods
Koraput	Tribal region
Kheda	Western coastal region
Visakapatnam	Eastern Coastal region

There are three more database centers coming up at Chandel(North Eastern Himalaya), Monghyr (district having typically diverse physiographic composition), and Bankura (plains prone to frequent droughts)

Methodology
As a basic step towards developing a resource information system, a database is created by collation of data on the relevant sectors. The emphasis is on maximizing the use of the data available with the various agencies. Primary generation of data is limited tot filling of information gaps and a limited amount of validation. The database consists of the following data files :

natural resources
agro-economy
demography
sect oral
socio-economy
remote sensing

It may be observed from the above that remote sensing data are used as one of the layers which supplements the natural resources data available from the conventional sources, n particular for themes which are of temporal nature. The detailed list of parameters has been divided into a hard core set which is uniformly collated at all the places; the soft core set of parameters is specific to the area under study and often constitutes the sect oral files. It is thus endeavored that specificity of the area is captured in the database and the planning strategies are tailored to the local requirements.

The database has been created using a relational structure. natural resources data are collected on a gird basis 9raster structure0 which is tide to the universal latitude and longitude system. The topographic sheets of the Survey of India provide the reference cartographic base. On this basis a unique identification code is assigned to each grid which serves as the key for setting up the relations. The adoption of the grid system facilities spatial comparisons, aggregation and desegregation of data. Further, it preserves the intrinsic spatial relationship among the data elements. However, this also poses the limitations of an inflexible spatial resolution (Meyers, 1987). Under NRDMS, two grid sizes 2.5' x 2.5 ' and 30" x 30" have been tried. The grid of higher resolution is now preferred and is being adopted as the standard. To make the database comprehensive and application' oriented, the natural resources data are supplemented with the socio-economic and agro-economic parameters collected mainly from the various census reports. These data are stored on village-wise basis. A many-to-many link has been provided between the grid and the village codes so as to take care of a grid having many villages and a village having many grids. The system has been so designed that multifaceted retrievals are possible either with respect to spatial entities, administrative units or physical boundaries (Venkatachalam et al., 1985). The NRDMS concept is schematically represented in fig. 1. A sample thematic output is shown in fig. 2.

NRDMS: A system for microlevel planning

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Implementation
Databases are being set up at the headquarters of the districts administration with the involvement and participation of the local officials and the people for whom the information system is meant. IBM compatible micro computers (PC/AT-386) equipped with hard disks and tape drives form the essential components of the hardware. In the initial stages systems based on Motorola 68010 have also been tried.

Software packages for data input, data overlay and retrieval have been developed. The outputs can be obtained either in the form of reports/tables or thematic maps. Commercially available GIS packages are also being tried on a limited scale. The high cost is an inhabiting factor. programs or calculation of indicators of development, backwardness and potentiality have been written. The villages can thus be ranked as per a defined set of criteria to study the spatial patterns and disparities in development (Govt. of Gujarat, 1984).

Applications
NRDMS has now evolved into a stage where the efficacy of the approach for tackling real-life problems scan be assessed. besides providing support to the local administration on a day to-day basis, specialized area-specific applications have been taken up for in-depth studies. As an illustrative list, these problems relate to soil salinity, water logging, ground water budgeting, land evaluation, landslides, drought mitigation and rural development modules.

OR studies and development of decision support models form important components of the project. Studies relating to scenario building, facility location, strategies for appropriate development, and allocation and distribution of resources are in progress.

Conclusion
NRDMS experience is helping in the identification of data requirements for micro level planning in different environments. The study of existing data flow structures and data gaps has highlighted the needs for forging linkages among and within the different hierarchical units of planning (Fig. 3 Bhatt et. al., 1976). Besides the difficulties of operational sing the high-tech implements in the backward areas, building confidence among the decision-makers in the solutions provided by sophisticated techniques is posing to be a rewarding challenge 9bandyopafhyay and Varde, 1980). As we proceed, NRDMS methodology is being upgraded to bring about a meaningful integration of image processing, computer cartography and knowledge base systems (Jackson and Mason, 1986 ; Mason and Townshend, 1988).

Fig. 3

Acknowledgements
The authors express their thanks to the Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, government of India for his keen interest and guidance provided in the activities of the NRDMS Project.

References

Bandyopadhyay, R., S.D. Varde., 1980, OR Education and Developing Economics with Special Reference to India, j. Opl. Res. Soc., 31, pp 675-687
Bhat, L.S. et. al., 1976, Micro Level planning, K.B. Publications, New Delhi.
Burrough, P.A., 1986, Principles of Geographical Information Systems for Land Resources Assessment, oxford Univ. press
Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India, 1983, Multiple Database Approach to Micro level planning.
Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India, 1986, NRDMS Brochure.
Government of Gujarat, General Admn. Department, 1984, Report of the Committee for the Development of backward Areas
Jackson, M.J., D.C. Mason, 1986, The Development of integrated Geo-information Systems, Int. J. Remote Sensing, 7, pp 723-740.
Mason, D.C., J.R.G. Townshend, 1988 Int. J. Geographical information Systems, 2, pp 121-141
Myers, W.L., 1987, Computerized Spatial Data Systems for Geographic Analysis, Annals of the National Association of Geographers, India, VII, pp 63-71
Planning Commission, Govt. of India, 1985, Report of the Working Group on District Planning
Planning Commission, Govt. of India, 1989, Report of the Committee of the Study Group on information Gap.
Venkatachalam, P., et.al., 1985, Development of an integrated Resources Geo- database, Proceedings of the Working Group Meeting on integration of Remote Sensed Data in Geographic information Systems for Processing of Global Resource Information, Washington D.C.

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*The paper expresses the views of the authors which may not reflect that of the Department of Science & Technology.