NEW DELHI, 1 Aug: The Centre has decided to demarcate the boundaries of the northeastern states through satellite imaging to settle interstate boundary disputes that often become a cause of concern and sometimes even lead to violence.
Two senior government functionaries said the task has been given to the North Eastern Space Application Centre (NESAC), a joint initiative of the department of space (DoS) and the North Eastern Council (NEC).
The NESAC helps augment the developmental process in the Northeast region by providing advanced space technology support.
The interstate boundary disputes have come under fresh focus recently after five Assam Police personnel and a civilian were killed in clashes along the Assam-Mizoram border.
The idea for demarcation of interstate boundaries through satellite imaging was mooted by union Home Minister Amit Shah a few months ago.
Shah had suggested roping in the NESAC for mapping the interstate boundaries and forests in the northeastern region and coming up with a scientific demarcation of boundaries between the states.
Shillong-based NESAC is already using space technology for flood management in the region.
Since there will be scientific methods in the demarcation of boundaries, there will be no scope for any discrepancy and there shall be better acceptability of the boundary solutions by the states, the government functionaries said.
Once the satellite mapping is done, the boundaries of the northeastern states could be drawn and the disputes could be resolved permanently, they said.
The major objectives of the NESAC are to provide an operational remote sensing and geographic information system-aided natural resource information base to support activities on development, management of natural resources and infrastructure planning in the region.
It provides operational satellite communication applications services in the region in education, healthcare, disaster management support, and developmental communication.
The other objectives include taking up research in the area of space and atmospheric science and establishing an instrumentation hub and networking with various academic institutions of the region. (PTI)
