Farmers google for a solution

An NGO has used satellite images to counter the state govt's claim that land
earmarked for SEZs is infertile
Dhananjay Khadilkar

Google has done it again. This time, it is not a big acquisition or the
announcement of a new product. Instead, it's the manner in which one of its
services has been put to use that's creating a buzz. Farmers of a small
taluka, about 100 km from Mumbai, in Maharashtra's Raigad district, have
used Google Earth in their fight against the state government's decision of
acquiring 11,000 hectares of land for Special Economic Zones (SEZs).

Farmers of Pen taluka, aided by activists of an NGO, SEZ Hatao Sangharsh
Samiti, are using pictures of land in Pen taken from Google Earth as a proof
of it being fertile. The local officials had deemed the same land as
infertile and had earmarked it for development of SEZ. There are 24 villages
in the Pen taluka, one in Panvel and 20 in Uran that would get affected by
the government's decision.

According to Arun Shivkar, a member of the convener committee of the NGO,
the authorities' version of the type of land in Pen is contradictory to what
Google Earth showed. Activist Vaishali Patil says that the local officials
had submitted a report to the state government about the land being
infertile and low in production, but this did not show on the satellite
pictures.

Using Google Earth's pictures, Shivkar and his colleagues have started a
public awareness programme in Pen and have involved farmers in it.
"We are telling farmers the facts about their land with the aid of Google
Earth," Shivkar told DNA. But will the authorities admit pictures of Google
Earth as a definitive proof of their claims? Shivkar said many government
servants themselves have no clue about Google Earth. "Besides we are
consulting legal experts on this issue," he said.

Dr R R Navalagund, Director, Space Application Centre, told DNA over phone
from Ahmedabad, "You can get higher resolution images from Google Earth to
identify waste land. But the images are for one season. In order to identify
the condition of the land, the images have to be for at least two seasons.

Our satellites have mapped land data across the country and you need to
analyse land usage over multiple seasons." So how did Shivkar, who runs an
NGO involved in working with adivasis, stumble upon Google Earth? "My
nephew, who works in Mumbai, suggested that I take a look at Google Earth.
Frankly, I didn't know what Google Earth was. Since I don't have an Internet
connection at home, I went to an Internet Café to take a look at it. Google
Earth's imagery convinced me about its use as a tool to educate farmers and
help them fight for their rights."

Shivkar has decided to make use of Google Earth for a larger cause. He says
that Google Earth pictures showing the condition of canals, rivers and
coastline in different villages will be displayed as big banners in
respective villages so that people would know what environmental changes
would take place in the future.

Shivkar is also planning to make use of Google Earth's pay service facility
which provides the latest picture of the specific area. Patil contends that
around 14,000 hectares of land in and around Pen taluka has been declared
infertile by the state, a claim that gets refuted by satellite imagery. "The
fact is only 3,500 hectares of land is infertile," she said.


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