PUNE, July 22: The office of the District Collector will soon launch the `Geographical Information System' - as the first step offering immediate contact with various parts of Pune district. This system is expected to help the district collectorate maintain contact with the various polling booths in the district and also obtain reports on the current situation in these places.District Collector Vijay Kumar Gautam told The Indian Express that a special cell has been formed in the collectorate office and trials have already begun. The system is expected to begin full-fledged operations from August 8. The cell is also expected to provide first hand information during natural disasters. The Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre at Nagpur will act as the coordinating agency for the planning, solution control and lending assistance to the strife-torn areas.During the election period, the GIS will be used to gain information about various regions in the district such as number of polling booths, geographical situation, voter's list. The system is expected to be useful for the authorities for gaining information on remote and sensitive areas. A similar cell has been opened at Mantralaya in Mumbai and the Yashwantrao Chavan Academy for Development Administration (YASHADA).At the divisional level, similar cells have been established at Pune, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Thane, Amravati and Nashik. Information such as topology of the regions, types of soil, high and low levels of land, drought-prone and, flood-prone areas, national highways, quake-prone areas, presence of primary health centres and police stations will be available on the fingertips making it easier for the authorities to decide the quickest possible method of reaching the affected areas in times of disaster.This system will also help the revenue department. Although the cell was to begin functioning from April this year, a delay was caused due to the bureaucratic red tape. A workshop was heldfor the department officials to appraise them of the advantages of using this system in the wake of the forthcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. The officials are now onto the job of gathering data on a war footing for this purpose.
