Dr Tank Ojha -- a one-time officer with the Department of Mines and Geology, who, in his own words, was kicked out of the department by his seniors -- has incorporated soil maps, geomorphological maps, land use maps, digital topographical maps, geological maps and seismicity maps for the whole country.[break]
GIS captures, stores, analyzes, and present all types of geographically referenced data to produce visual maps and meaningful outputs in order to support decision-making for planning and management of land use, natural resources, environment, transportation, urban facilities, and other administrative records, according to Nepal GIS Society.
"The Survey Department has topographical map, the Department of Mines and Geology the seismicity map, the National Planning Commission has also started to work on GIS database and some INGOs may have database of some pockets of the country but we don´t have comprehensive and organized GIS database of the whole country at any level," President of Nepal GIS Society Dr Krishna Poudel states.
"It is a vital tool for development which is not possible without spatial auditing and spatial learning," Dr Poudel asserts and opines that there have been no significant works on developing GIS database at a level which can be beneficial for the country despite millions of rupees spent on it by different organizations.
Dr Ojha, whose son Lujendra recently hogged headlines by becoming the first to spot signs of possible brine water flow during the warmer months on Mars, claims to have developed the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) for the whole country.
A DEM represents the earth´s surface and includes all objects on it, ala Google Earth.
"With the comprehensive display of slopes and altitude, DEM can be used to assess anything: from seeing whether a proposed irrigation canal in the hills will work to whether children from surrounding villages can climb a school built on a hilltop. It is an indispensable tool for local area planning," Dr Poudel explains adding that Nepal GIS Society has no knowledge of anyone else developing a DEM model in Nepal. "It is great that Dr Ojha has a sequential data of the country at a time when we have almost nothing," he comments on Dr Ojha´s database.
Dr Ojha´s database has yet to be tested for accuracy by any government agency as it is prepared by a person but he claims that it is accurate and instead insists the topographic database developed by Survey Department in GIS format has serious technical issues and cannot be used to solve real life problems.
"I have digitized paper copy topographical, geological, and seismological maps and extracted land use maps from satellite images. I, with help from other colleagues from the University of Arizona, have done extensive geological mapping to develop a reliable geological database," he elaborates the development of his database which he says is still being further developed.
"In other words, the database contains maps, charts, tables, published literature, and unpublished reports. With just a click in the map area of your interest it will navigate you through all the supporting maps tables charts and texts," he adds. He claims that his database can be used for anything from construction of hydropower projects, to roads and even factories saving millions of rupees.
Nepal GIS Society is planning to work with Dr Ojha, who spends nearly half a year doing research in Nepal, and they have recently submitted a big proposal to National Science Foundation of USA on natural hazard mitigation and sustainable agricultural issues for funding.
He is currently studying the past climate change effects by examining the river terrace deposits of farwest Nepal and assures there is no need to panic with climate change issues.
"Climate change, whether man made or natural, has happened in the past and is a regular process. This situation can be dealt with positively," he assures.
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