‘N-E borders to be demarcated though satellite imaging tech’
NEW DELHI: The Centre has decided to demarcate boundaries of the North-eastern states through satellite imaging to settle interstate border disputes that are often becoming a cause of concern and sometimes even leading to violence, according to people aware of the matter.
Two senior government functionaries said the task has been given to the North Eastern Space Application Centre, a joint initiative of the Department of Space and the North Eastern Council.
NEW DELHI: The Centre has decided to demarcate boundaries of the North-eastern states through satellite imaging to settle interstate border disputes that are often becoming a cause of concern and sometimes even leading to violence, people aware of the matter said on Sunday.
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 border 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 inter-state boundaries through satellite imaging was mooted by Union Home Minister Amit Shah a few months ago.
Shah had suggested roping in NESAC for mapping the interstate borders and forests in the Northeastern region and coming up with a scientific demarcation of boundaries between states.
The Shillong-based NESAC is already using space technology for flood management in the region. Since there will be scientific methods in the demarcation of borders, there will 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 Northeastern states could be drawn and the disputes could be resolved permanently, they said.