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Technical session I

GIS BASED TOOLS FOR LOCAL LEVEL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

GIS-BASED TECHNOLOGIES FOR LOCAL LEVEL DEVELOPMENT
PLANNING – AN OVERVIEW

P.S.Acharya
NRDMS Division
Department of Science & Technology
Government of India, New Delhi 110 016, INDIA

ABSTRACT

The Planning System in India is undergoing rapid changes with the enactment of the Seventy-third and Seventy-fourth Constitutional Amendments in 1992 and 1993. The present emphasis is on devolution of greater authority and responsibility to Panchayati Raj Institutions at the local level (Zilla Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti, and Village Panchayat), with district as the identified unit of planning. Specific items like land improvement, soil conservation, drinking water, fuel and fodder, health and sanitation, education facilities etc. (29 items are included in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution) have been identified where institutions of self-governance in the rural areas are required to prepare and implement integrated development schemes.

The Ninth Plan (1997-2002), in this context, re-emphasizes the need for integrating various sectoral programmes of soil and water conservation, forestry, minor irrigation, agriculture and other departments for drawing up integrated local area development strategies. Elaborating the approach, the Ninth Plan Document suggests “the poverty alleviation programmes should be more effectively integrated with area development programmes and the various sectoral programmes within the umbrella of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) which will function as effective institutions of local self-government. These institutions should prepare and implement the plans for economic development and social justice”.

Preparation and implementation of such integrated schemes /programmes being complex and information-intensive, there has been a need to upgrade the existing data system prevalent at the districts to make it amenable to quick retrieval, integration and analysis. The Governmental has therefore, encouraged programmes aimed at developing and inducting appropriate scientific and technological tools in the task of upgrading the databases and improving data management procedures at the districts. Natural Resources Data Management System, (NRDMS), is one such initiative of the Government, launched by the Department of Science & Technology with a distinct focus on development of spatial data management tools for local level planning. The assistance from UNDP under the Project ‘IND/95/002 - GIS-Based Technologies for Local Level Development Planning' has helped in building up the requisite scientific and technological inputs into the Programme and provided a sharper user-bias to the Programme’s activities. The Project was formally launched in November 1996 for a duration (revised) of four years with a total UNDP assistance of $ 1.26 million and a counterpart support of Rs. 54 million (in kind). The objectives of the Project are to:

i. Develop spatial data management tools suitable for addressing problems of district level planning
ii. Demonstrate the applicability of these tools in the application themes like water resources management, land use planning, energy management, and infrastructure development
iii. Strengthen the institutional back-up by development of training kits and conducting training courses/workshops
iv. Technology transfer

The major stakeholders of the Project include district and state government officials, central ministries involved in the sectors of Rural Development, Water Resources Management, Agriculture and Social Infrastructure, Planning Commission, Academia and NGOs.

The project has been implemented in a consortium mode with collaboration of major and selected academic/research institutions of the country. National Mapping Agencies like Survey of India (SOI), National Atlas & Thematic Mapping Organisation (NATMO) are providing the cartographic support to the project activities. Help from other agencies like the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR); National Bureau of Soil Survey & Land Use Planning (NBSSLUP) and India Meteorological Department (IMD) has also been secured. A close interaction has been maintained with officials at the District and the State levels in all aspects of the project implementation.

The assistance from UNDP has made significant contribution to the improvement of the NRDMS methodology by providing it a sound user interface and upgrading its tools. A major outcome of the Project is a comprehensive understanding of the requirement of data and data processing tools for local level planning through a systematic ‘Needs Assessment’ study. Keeping the data requirement in view, various data sets have been collated from leading survey agencies like SOI, NATMO, NBSSLUP, and All India Soil & Land Use Survey (AISLUS), Geological Survey of India (GSI), Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), India Meteorological Department (IMD), Census of India, and the State / District level Line Departments (Revenue, DRDA, Watershed Development, Agriculture, Horticulture, Minor Irrigation, Forest, Electricity Board, IREP Cells, Health, Civil Supplies, Education, Zilla Panchayat Engineering etc.). Data gaps have been analysed and limited primary surveys undertaken to bridge the gaps. Various data sets (including maps) collated and collected from different sources have been stored in a compatible and computer-integrable format on databases. The indigenously developed GRAM++ GIS software package has been upgraded with additional features and capabilities to help organize such databases containing data on natural resources, demography, agro-economy, socio-economy, and infrastructure facilities. Data have been stored on the databases as village as the unit. The databases have been set up at the district level GIS centers established at the District Collectorates of the pilot districts with the support of the concerned State Governments. The databases can be accessed by the line departments in retrieving block /village level maps and associated tabular data for use in their day-to-day planning and decision-making activities.

Four sectoral decision support software modules have been developed in the identified sectors of water resources management, land use planning, energy management, and infrastructure development. The modules are capable of working on the databases to retrieve the relevant data sets, analyse, and provide information useful for local level planning. While the Land and Water Modules support data processing to generate information on watershed boundaries in a district, watershed-wise surface water availability, crop productivity, biomass yield, and soil erosion status, the Energy Module helps assess the energy demand and supply situations and identify deficit areas in a district /block requiring extra supply of energy. The Infrastructure Module provides tools for locating facilities like health centers, schools, fair price shops and allocating them optimally among villages / settlements depending on the facilities’ capacity. Training kits on GIS and GRAM++ have been developed for training of staff and other end-users to promote the use of the newly developed tools in the task of local level planning.

In addition to the above tools useful in assessing the local natural and social resource endowment and spread of facilities, pilot studies have been undertaken to examine the socio-economic situation of a district vis-à-vis the next higher planning unit – the state. The integrated database for Bankura has been utilized to estimate indicators like migration, literacy (including gender gap), work force (including gender gap), agriculture, industry, employment, access to amenities like drinking water, electricity, and health services which can be compared with the corresponding indicators for the State of West Bengal for drawing up area-specific development strategies. Estimates of the Human Development Index (HDI) of Bankura and the State of West Bengal have been made by combining life expectancy, adult literacy, enrolment ratio and real GDP Per Capita for use in local level planning.

With the above technological tools and resource databases available at the districts, and the institutions of local self-governance (zilla panchayats) in place, it is expected that the process of local level planning will be more scientific and take into account the local resources, and the locally felt needs of the people while drawing up area development strategies. Based on this experience and upgradation of the methodology and tools, NRDMS is now poised towards forging functional linkages with various User Departments and Ministries like Ministries of Rural Development, Agriculture, Water Resources, and Health & Family Welfare. Such linkages are expected to build up the desired spatial data management capabilities into their activities.

GRAM++ - AN INDIGENOUS GIS SOFTWARE

P.Venkatachalam and B.Krishna Mohan
Centre of Studies in Resources Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Powai, Bombay – 400 076, India

ABSTRACT

Geographic Information Systems represent a rapidly developing field lying at the intersection of many disciplines concerned with handling and analysing spatially referenced data. Major growth began in GIS due to combined effects in the development of software, cost effectiveness of hardware, increasing availability of spatial data in digital form and growth of new applications. Recent developments have shown that object oriented approach is well suited for the design of GIS which has a richly structured knowledge domain. This paper describes the development of a GIS tool GRAM++ (Geo Referenced Area management) using object oriented methodology. The package has all intrinsic functional capabilities to edit, handle and analyze spatial, nonspatial and remote sensing data and works on Windows95 , 98 and NT platforms.

Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India launched a project entitled Natural Resources Data Management System (NRDMS) to generate computer compatible, spatially oriented data bases of natural resources and socio-economic parameters to facilitate area specific micro-level planning. The project has emphasized the development of comprehensive spatial databases at district level encompassing all the resource sectors. During the project execution, a PC-based user-friendly GIS tool – GRAM (Geo Referenced Area Management) was designed to handle both positional and non-positional attributes involved in resource management.

Considering the recent developments in the PC hardware and software technology, and standardization of graphical user interfaces and the feedback received from users of different categories - government, academia, and NGO, GRAM was upgraded and a new version GRAM++ was built in Windows 9X/NT environment. Following object oriented terminology; different classes are defined to handle cartography, and GIS aspects. These classes are grouped into three types: Cartography, GIS Domain and Domain Independent. The vector data are handled using the base class Glayer. From Glayer, three classes are derived – GPointLayer, GSegment Layer and GpolygonLayer. Similarly, GRasterLayer is a class from which GImage, GTheme etc. are derived. In cartography, text, symbol, pattern and colour are the base classes to generate desired visualization layouts. Domain Independent group covers the classes of type tables, data bases, shape, geometry etc. While developing the package, specific features available in Windows such as multi-tasking, clip-board and drivers for input and output etc. have been used and visual programming methods are adopted so that the entire use is through dialog boxes and menu selections via icons. An online support is provided at every step. Before taking up the task of developing GRAM++, a study was carried out on some of the latest PC based GIS packages running under Windows which can handle both vector and raster data, their system design, functional capabilities, data portability, spatial modelling, user interface and performance. The study helped in outlining the features and modules of GRAM++. The modules of GRAM++ include Import/Export of different format data, Map Editing, Raster Analysis, Vector Analysis, Network Analysis, Spatial Query Language support for combined attribute and map based queries, Digital Image Processing, Watershed Analysis, and Map Layout. Support for Survey of India’s Digital Vector Data (DVD) format is added to the package to enhance the functionality in the Indian environment.

Data input module supports import of data files from various formats, exports GRAM++ files to different formats and Geo-Registration of maps. Vector data files of GRAM GIS, DVD format (Survey of India, Digital Vector Data format), Arc/Info GIS and AutoDesk DXF format can be imported to GRAM++ Vec format. Raster Data files of GRAM GIS, RAW data and TIFF format can be imported to GRAM++ RAS format. Export provides facilities to export GRAM++ VEC file into DXF format and ARC/INFO UNGEN format, RAS file into BMP and TIFF formats. GeoTrans helps in Geo-Registration of maps of various scales and resolutions by selection of ground control points and resampling. Map edit module supports on screen digitization of scanned maps and conversion of digitized coordinates into ground coordinates using tic marks, projection and scale. Clean helps to remove the digitizing errors in the vector data such as overshooting segments, hanging segments, duplicate segments etc. Topology can be built for the formation of polygons and the vector layer can be rasterized into a raster layer choosing the resolution. Attribute tables get created for point, segment and polygon layers. In vector query module a vector map can be displayed and the user can examine the associated attribute data for each point / segment / polygon using the linkage between the map data and attribute database. SQL base queries can be generated using a simple graphical user interface on the attribute database, and vector objects satisfying the query can be highlighted on the map. This is one of the simplest and most often used forms of interactions in a GIS. This module also assists in the generation of statistical maps using the attribute databases. Attribute database is handled using MS-Access.

A large volume of spatial data exists in raster form, such as scanned thematic maps, and remotely sensed images. Processing of raw image data is handled by the Image Processing module. Classified images and thematic maps are analyzed using the raster analysis module. Raster analysis module supports map algebra to combine multiple maps using arithmetic, logical, and relational operators, nested if-then conditions etc., conditional and unconditional overlay of maps, buffer generation and distance calculation, zonal, focal and neighbourhood operations. In Terrain module, DTM can be generated from contours using spatial interpolation techniques. Facilities are provided for deriving slope, aspect, relief, and delineation of watersheds. In order to handle digital remote sensing data, tools are provided for image enhancement, transformation and classification.

The end result of a spatial analysis is often a visual product, such a computer display, or a hard copy. Extensive research has gone into the visualization problem, so that the final outcome of a GIS based analysis is appropriately displayed to make it easy to interpret and use by a planner or a non-technical user. In layout module, both vector and raster results can be visualized and cartographic results can be generated with legends, labels and symbols choosing desirable projections and scales.

Geo-SQL offers an extension to the standard SQL by providing features to query the geometric objects. The spatial and attribute queries are essentially input separately, linked by and / or operators. A variety of geometric operations such as point in polygon, overlay of polygons, overlay of polygon and segment, are provided in the software so that a range of queries normally used by planners and decision makers are supported. This module is being developed at Department of Computer Science, University of Pune, India.

Keeping in view the types of users of GRAM++, a detailed online help is provided for each function. A self learning tutor has been provided to understand the step by step procedure to execute various modules and test data sets are available for hands on training.

Selection of a GIS package largely depends on the kind of application for which it has to be used. It may be for natural resources inventory, utility mapping, environmental assessment or spatial planning. It also depends on the country, the type of organization, availability of digital data, availability of skilled manpower, time scale, money and the scope of the project. Even though a number of well established commercial GIS Tools are available globally, GRAM++ was developed as an outcome of a research project intended to support local level planning by administrators and decision makers at district level in India. GRAM++ can be used by line departments, district administrators, and research community and also by academic schools. The project was fully supported by UNDP under the project "GIS Based Technologies for Local Level Development Planning" and Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, under the scheme "Natural Resources Data Management System". Copies of the software have been distributed to various categories of users across India for evaluation and feed back. A number of application studies have been carried out to illustrate capabilities of the package. Conversion of selected functions of GRAM++ into .OCX controls is in progress. It is expected that this package will be found useful in a range of application domains on the strength of its ability to function in both the raster and vector environments.

User Need Assessment and Development of Improved Procedure for Data Collection: A study in the Zilla Panchayath, Kolar, Karnataka

S. Rajagopalan, Chairman, Technology Informatics Design Endeavour (TIDE),
Bangalore

ABSTRACT

The major objectives of this study , carried between April 1997 and March 1999 were:

To identify , through a structured methodology of interviews and review of existing documents , the needs of the planners that could be computerized using GIS tools.
To check the data availability, their current collection methods, and to create a data directory
To determine the gaps that exist between the data that is available and the data that is needed to implement a GIS based planning process.

The study was carried out in those departments in the District of Kolar who have a direct responsibility for managing Land, Water, Energy, Public Distribution, Social Infrastructure ( Health and Education) and Land Use Planning . A total of 15 departments were identified for carrying out the study. Plan schemes that have a bearing on the management of the above resources , planned and implemented in these 15 departments were listed. They numbered around 100. From this list a shortlist of 15 most important schemes were identified for closer study. The criteria used was financial resources expended and these 15 schemes use almost two thirds of the plan funds spent in the district.

The departments involved in the study were the Deputy Commissioner and his office, the CEO and his office, departments of Agriculture, Sericulture, Fisheries, Horticulture, Forest and Social Forestry, Animal Husbandry, Minor Irrigation, Zilla Panchayath Engineering, Food and Civil supplies, Karnataka Electricity Board, Social Welfare, Health, Public Instruction, and the Survey Settlement and Land Records. The study used a methodology developed by Prof. Calkins and a work shop was organised at the beginning of the study for a few officers from each of these departments to familiarise them with the scope of the study and its usefulness.

The structured formats of collecting User Needs, developed by Prof. Calkins, were slightly modified to suit the local situation. It was found that most officers were more comfortable in describing and discussing their work than filling up forms and putting down their requirements. Hence three rounds of interviews were organised. The first interview focussed on the way they plan, how closely they follow the guidelines for planning issued by the governments and the planning commission and what data they use in that process. All documents , guidelines and government orders governing a programme were also collected in parallel. Based on this interview a document was prepared detailing all the activities that are part of a plan scheme, how they are carried out, who are involved and what data gets used. This document was taken back to the officers and discussed further. The research staff accompanied the officers during the field visits to get a first hand idea on how things were carried out. Based on these interaction a second round of interviews were carried out. Attempts were made to understand (a) the differences between what the guidelines prescribe and what the officers say that they are doing (b) the differences between what the officers say they are doing and what they actually did and (c) what they would like to do if better information systems and tools were available.

Based on these discussion a final document was prepared which listed the activities currently carried out and the data they used . This document also listed new activities that the planners would undertake if better data and analytical tools were available. A final interview was held to freeze the document and obtain approval. The research staff spent over 4000 man-hours in these interviews.

The next task undertaken was preparation of the data directory. The data directory was distilled from the interviews and listed. The nature of data, specifications and source of data was captured. A sketch of the outputs and maps that would be required was also developed. These were compiled in to a User Need Assessment Document. Five Volumes
covering all the sectors were published between July 98 and March 99.

Since some data were used across departments, it was felt necessary to generate a comprehensive meta data. A Visual Basic Programme was developed to enter the meta data. The meta data covered both map and attribute data. In order to create the meta data , copies of technical registers in which data was kept, were obtained and analysed. Over 200 such registers and formats were analysed. This was published as a Comprehensive Meta Data list.

The Comprehensive Meta Data list was used to identify data gaps that exist if one has to implement the GIS applications that were being developed in a number of institutions. Data gaps were also identified if the suggestion for new activities in the planning process were accepted and implemented. A Document detailing the data gaps was prepared and distributed.

The outputs of the study comprised of three themes for each sector. These were (1) A description of existing mechanisms of planning and decision making (2) Description of Data Requirement for GIS based DSS and (3) Procedures by which the systems can be improved.

SPATIAL DATABASE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION FOR NRDMS

Hemalatha Diwakar
Dept of Computer Science
University of Pune, India-411007
hd[at]cs[dot]unipune[dot]ernet[dot]in

ABSTRACT

The Geographical Information System (GIS) has two, distinct utilization capabilities- the first pertaining to querying and obtaining information, and the second related to integrated analytical modeling. However, these capabilities depend upon the core of the GIS - the database that has been organized. Many GIS utilization has been limited because of improper database organization. The importance of the GIS database, also referred as the spatial database, stems from the fact that the data items of the database are closely integrated and thus need to be structured for easy integration and retrieval.

The digital spatial database consists of geometrical descriptions of entities, with their associated topological relationships, and attributes. The database design must meet the needs of the users, applications, and compatible with existing data, and avoid duplication and redundancy. Given these special kinds of data and requirements for the database design, the foremost task is to construct a functionally integrated, coherent data model, which supports the development of a multi purpose geographical database. This article gives an overview of the development of a framework for spatial data modeling and the a description of the Geo-data model, named as comprehensive Geo-data model developed for the NRDMS, Department of Science and Technology, India.

The Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, has initiated a number of projects in using Geographical Information Systems for planning and decision making in infrastructure development, Watershed management, energy planning and so on. These systems allow end users like town planners, administrators and other users from departments related to land, health, energy, infrastructure etc to obtain relevant information on maps, or tabular data (like demography, soil, weather) or both, and, statistical information for decision making using maps and tabular data. One of the most important requirements for these applications is to store and retrieve data and maps in an integrated fashion and also to allow the users to get answers to queries like “ Find all hospitals which are within a distance of 1km from a main road”.

Also, Spatial Decision Support Systems rely on the spatial database for storing the data needed by them to use in making decisions. As there is overlapping of data across various departments, it is mandatory to develop an integrated, database with minimum duplication. The geographical and text data that form the database are inferred from the applications@. Each of the application’s data needs are diagrammatically represented so that GIS user can also understand whether the geographical and text data, and their relationships are properly taken care of or not. This step forms a part of conceptual data base design or conceptual data modeling. Conceptual data base Design is the first step in database design where the contents of the intended database are identified and described. Later this conceptual data design will be used to arrive at the logical database schema (like relational or object-relational) followed by the physical schema, (using a particular package).

In order to carry out this activity for the ‘GIS-Based technologies for local area development planning’ projects sponsored by NRDMS (DST) and UNDP, a project is carried out in the Department of Computer science, Pune University.
The main objectives of this project are as follows: -

* The NRDMS centers manually populated the spatial database by the available datasets.(at present, there are no tools to clean, scrub and to take care of the mappings).The SDSS related data are filled using the GUI provided by the SDSS developers.

Much iteration was needed to come up with the final design, as SDSS related projects were also in progress at the same time. Hence the case tool was found very useful as one could change and produce diagrams, and also repeat and modify the design with ease. The GIS application developers’ community of NRDMS can use the tool and record their applications for future reference.

An integrated spatial database design is developed and the database is populated with the datasets available at the various NRDMS centers. The current system development, which is quite exhaustive in nature, is first of its kind in the country and is found to be successful. The usage of this integrated database can be demonstrated through various SDSS developed under this project and also using GRAM++ and the spatial DBMS developed at Pune University. The future work involves testing the system for its active use by the decision makers, allowing data from more than one resource, version management, and development of tools for loading data, leaning and scrubbing.

DATABASE DEVELOPMENT AT THE DISTRICT NRDMS CENTRES

M. Prithviraj
NRDMS Group
Department of Science and Technology
New Delhi 110 016, INDIA

ABSTRACT

Local area planning is a complex and information intensive task as the various sectoral and spatial inter-dependencies and inter-relationships play a vital role. In order to resolve the conflicting interests and appreciate the inter-dependencies and implement holistic development of the area, there is a need to adopt an integrated approach to the developmental strategy. The first step in implementing such a plan is the availability of data/information of all the sectors on a common database so that it is accessible to all the user agencies for analysis and scenario generation.

Natural Resources Data Management System (NRDMS), launched by the Department of Science and Technology is one such National initiative aimed at developing and inducting such databased approach to planning. The aid from UNDP further helped in building up the required scientific and technological inputs into the programme. This paper recollects the activities that were carried out in building the integrated database at the district level data centres.

As a first step in this endevour, a multi-pronged strategy was adopted to identify the data needs at the district for performing GIS analysis. The approach was (i) Study and survey of all the reports, manuals and guidelines on all the government schemes and programmes in operation at the district (ii) interaction through workshops with selected line department officials to assess their needs in implementing the schemes (iii) analyse and capture the needs of the sectoral decision support systems being developed. Based on this exercise, a Master Data List was prepared indicating the nature of the data, its scale / resolution / frequency of collection. A survey was then made to assess the availability of the data with various national level survey agencies like Survey of India, National Atlas & Thematic Mapping Organisation, India Meteorological Department, and Census of India. The data sets that were still needed at the district center but not being generated by any survey agency nor line department was identified as the Data Gaps. The available data were then collected and converted to digital mode. Many a times the data that were being supplied by the data generating agencies were not GIS compliant and hence preprocessing had to be done to make them suitable for database construction.

Limited scale topographic and GPS survey to capture the geographic information and representative field survey through interviews / user feedback were undertaken to generate certain amount of primary data sets. Modern technologies like Digital image processing, SAR interferometry, collection of hydro-meteorological data through instrumentation, were adopted to generating a selected sets of data. Thus, the identified data gaps were bridged to execute the SDSS and other user identified applications in selected representative localities (watersheds) to demonstrate the concept of micro level planning. Various data sets thus generated from available maps and from satellite imagery interpretation were brought to a common geodetic reference framework of Survey of India topo-sheets, for the construction of the spatial database, to facilitate integration. Digital Elevation Models prepared from SAR Interferometry for both the districts forms a part of the spatial database. The attribute data sets were entered in the databases on MS Access. GRAM++ with MS Access was used to construct the GIS databases of Bankura and Kolar.

While the database was getting constructed, Metadata information of the data being incorporated into the database was concurrently collected/generated and maintained at the district centres to meet the information needs of the enduser community. Considering the fact that the district centres are to be manned by district staff who are on constant rotation due to departmental transfers a need for documenting the source of the data, its location in the database, processes followed in converting / generating the data, its spatial and temporal resolution, frequency of updation, etc. was felt. Accordingly in both the pilot districts a format was drawn up for documenting the above details through a Data Dictionary and the data elements are now being recorded and maintained in it.

SDSS FOR LAND & WATER MANAGEMENT

Gosain, A. K.; Rao, Sandhya
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110 016

ABSTRACT

As it has been proven beyond doubt that the integrated watershed management approach is the best approach for the efficient management of the local level natural resources, use of appropriate tools for the purpose is essential. Conceptual simulation distributed models are best suited amongst a very wide variety of hydrological models. SWAT model has been adopted as a tool to help in watershed management aspects of the local level planning.

SWAT is the acronym for Soil and Water Assessment Tool, a river basin, or watershed, scale model developed by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), of the USDA, at Temple, Texas. SWAT was developed to predict the impact of land management practices on water, sediment and agricultural chemical yields in large complex watersheds with varying soils, land use and management conditions over long periods of time.

The SWAT model is physically based. It requires specific information about weather, soil properties, topography, vegetation, and land management practices prevalent in the watershed. The physical processes associated with water movement, sediment movement, crop growth, nutrient cycling, etc. are modeled in the SWAT using the input data.

In the present study the scenario building capabilities of the SWAT model have been projected. The model has been made highly user-friendly and GIS interface has been created to help map the watershed and also to perform the preprocessing functions for the distributed modelling. This work has been done as part of the UNDP sponsored project on "GIS-Based Technologies for Local Level Development Planning".

The pre processing starts with an automatic process of delineation incorporated in GRAM++ using the Digital Elevation Model (DEM), which is usually derived from contours available in the toposheets. A series of procedures are used to generate the drainage network and subsequently the contributing areas at various pour points from the DEM. The watershed characteristics, such as slope, channel length, channel slope, etc., are derived using GRAM++ GIS capabilities, which in turn are input to the model.

Each of these sub-watersheds are modelled as separate entity for generating the water resources from the respective areas with respect to the local conditions of landuse, soil type, terrain characteristics and the local weather conditions. In order to account for the spatial variations of landuse and soil type, GIS overlay facility has been used. The hydrological response units (HRU) are derived by overlaying the landuse layer and the soil type layers over the watershed layer. These HRUs are the areas with uniform hydrological characteristics. This capability makes the use of distributed models possible because of the fact that appropriate parameter values can now be assigned to each HRU.

Ramapatna watershed in Kolar district of Karnataka and Gandheshwari watershed in Bankura district of West Bengal are two pilot watersheds adopted to validate SWAT model. The runoff data required to validate the SWAT simulation are collected for these two watersheds as part of another effort by DST where these watersheds were instrumented to be used as experimental watersheds. The SWAT model has also been calibrated and validated on some other Indian watersheds of various size and behavior as part of the other research activities of the group at IIT Delhi.

The surface water availability map can be a real boon for a comprehensive watershed management plan of an area. The hydrological modelling is a viable solution for this purpose. The water availability plan of the Gandeshwari watershed in Bankura on annual basis has been presented in the figure on the basis of the 10 years of meteorological data.

The estimation of sediment yield is very important for prioritizing the watersheds to be taken up under watershed management programme. The model computes the sediment yield estimates for each subwatersheds using the MUSLE.

The scenario generation capability of SWAT with respect to the cropping pattern and land use changes is based on the availability of a very good crop growth model and incorporation of MUSLE (Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation) concepts. In a place like India, where emphasis is being placed on making the local level users to participate in the management of the natural resources at the watershed level, it is imperative that these local level organisations be strengthened by providing the integrated watershed management tools which are very user-friendly but still use all the scientific knowledge to arrive at the appropriate decisions. Invariably, they will need to assess the impact of changes made in the landuse. In the agricultural area, since the common change is in the form of change in the cropping pattern, one would like to assess as to what will be the situation if one changes the cropping pattern of the area. This assessment can be with respect to the prevailing rainfall of the area if only rainfed agriculture is to be considered. However, one can also assess the requirement of supplementary irrigation in case stress levels developed with respect to a specific cropping pattern. Another concern about introduction of changed cropping pattern shall be its impact on the runoff generation capability of the area.

Watershed prioritization is an important aspect of planning for the implementation of watershed management program. Some peripheral interfaces have also been designed to help the planners of the watershed program. Two such applications one for finding the interaction between the administrative and watershed boundaries and the other one to locate the water harvesting structures have been formulated and demonstrated.
All the hydrological computations are made with respect to the watershed boundaries, there are many situations where data/information shall only be available with respect to the administrative boundaries. The interaction between the watershed and administrative boundaries are to be used for selection of the watersheds with respect to any predefined criteria dictated by the administrative boundary. The typical prioritisation criteria may include the physical and socio-economic characteristics. The output of SWAT model help provide the necessary inputs for applying physical criteria whereas the most of the demographic information is based on administrative boundaries and there by needs to be integrated with the watershed based information. This capability has been applied on the two pilot areas to demonstrate the usefulness of the spatial technologies for the local level planning.

Similarly, the implementation of a water harvesting structure is another very common feature in the watershed management programme. Using the spatial tools an application has been developed to locate suitable sites for such water structures. Besides the location the application also helps in estimating the desirable parameters like spread area and available storage capacity.

An attempt has been made to incorporate the hydrological modelling capability in the application to provide many facilities required by the planners and the decision makers at various levels. These applications do not only suffice to the general requirements of the end-users as defined during the requirement analysis but also go much further in ensuring that a scientific character is brought about in this very crucial sector of watershed management.

HYDROLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN WATERSHED MANAGEMENT -
CASE STUDY OF RAMPATNA WATERSHED OF SEMI - ARID ZONE

E. J. James, N. K. Joseph and V P Dinesan
Centre for Water Resources Development and Management, Calicut, INDIA

ABSTRACT

The Rampatna Watershed of an area of 16 sq.km, situated in the semi-arid zone of the Deccan Plateau, receives only 800 mm of average annual rainfall. About 95% of the rainfall is received during the south-west and north-east monsoon period, stretching from May to November. An estimate of monthly evapotranspiration shows that these values are often higher than the monthly rainfall.

An analysis of the stream flow from the downstream reach of the watershed shows that there is no flow after the rain ceases. The observations from the streamlets in the subwatersheds indicate that the flash flows followed by a rainfall stops a few hours after the storm ceases. During such flash flows, considerable sediment transport takes place. The flow duration curve developed for the main stream of the watershed shows that a dependable flow of more than 5m3/sec is available only for 25% of the time. An estimate of the peak flow was made using the rational formula to help in design work; this value has been 60.4 m3/sec in the main stream and the corresponding high flood level at the outlet being 1.71m above the bed level. The watershed is situated in a hard rock terrain and the groundwater is limited to the shallow weathered zone. The deeper confined aquifers are characterized by fractures and fissures. Groundwater occurs under water table conditions in the alluvium, in the valleys and close by areas of the main stream course. The groundwater sources are recharged mainly by direct infiltration of rainfall and to some extent by return flows from the farmlands and percolation from the limited tanks. The quality of this water is generally good for irrigation purpose but poor for drinking since fluorides and nitrates are found to be in excess in several samples analysed.

The groundwater abstraction structures in the Rampatna watershed are the dug wells and dug-cum-bore wells; the number of bore wells has increased by almost 100 during 1990-1999 period. The yield from the dug wells in the hard rock terrain varies from 15m3/day to 200 m3/day, while in the alluvium it ranges from 200 m3/day to 500 m3/day. The depth of bore wells under private ownership ranges from 40 m to 150 m and their yield is in the range of 0.5 m3/day - 200 m3/day. Based on the well statistics, the unit drafts of dug wells and bore wells are 0.5 ha-m and 3.5 ha-m respectively.

Based on the analysis of the hydrologic data of the Rampatna watershed, certain management strategies have been formulated for this watershed, which may have applicability in similar other watersheds of this semi-arid zone. The annual rainfall in the watershed is limited, and also seasonal. Since the monthly evapotranspiration values are higher than the monthly rainfall, possibilities for recharge are also limited. Even under these adverse conditions, the number of bore wells are increasing at an alarming rate, mainly to irrigate the crops. The possibility to use surface water sources is very limited. Therefore, the following recommendations are made to achieve scientific management of this watershed:

* Further exploitation of ground water sources has to be controlled

* Participation of people have to be totally ensured in the management of the watershed

DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR ENERGY PLANNING IN A DISTRICT

Rangan Banerjee
Energy Systems Engineering
IIT Bombay, Mumbai 400 076, INDIA

ABSTRACT

Most energy planning exercises are carried out with aggregate data at the national level. Energy resources are spatially dispersed. Energy demands are also spatially dispersed because of the population distributions location of industries and agriculture. A Decision Support System for energy planning in a district has been built up in this project. The DSS is illustrated with a case study for Bankura district in West Bengal. The DSS can be useful for decentralised energy planning and is intended to be replicable / applicable to any district. The existing structure for energy related decisions in Bankura are studied. The DSS framework permits analysis at two main levels:

(a) District with the block as a unit, to enable sectoral officials to analyse impacts of plans, and to construct future development scenarios.
(b) Block level - with the village as a unit, to select between alternative schemes and study impacts, to analyse impacts on different villages in the block.

The framework used is based on an accounting methodology with scenario generation used for planning. The database for the DSS consists of secondary data (census, village level indicators, government reports), primary data (Surveys, visits), remote sensed data (satellite imagery), digitised maps. The energy consumption is disaggregated into sectors -
(a) Residential - cooking, lighting, others. (b) Agricultural
(c) Industrial (d) Others.

Household survey was carried out to obtain the residential end-use data. The energy used in the residential sector was found to depend on the income. The population was divided into four incourse classes – below Poverty, Above Poverty, Middle Income and High Income. The fuel mix varied with the income with the lower income households opting for traditional fuels and the share of kerosene and LPG increasing with income. The DSS uses calorific values of the fuels and device efficiencies of end-use equipment to compute the end-use energy. Calculations and aggregations are possible at the end use level or in terms of the primary energy used.

The electricity requirement for the household sector is estimated based on the appliance stock matrix, rating and the utilisation factor matrix. The agricultural demand module estimates the amount of water required to be pumped based on the land area under different irrigation schemes, crop calendar, water requirements for each crop, number of diesel and electric pump sets, rainwater inflow and fraction of rainwater unvapourised. The industrial module has separate sub-module for rice mills, cold storage, oil mill, flourmill, bell metal and brick kiln.

A household survey was carried out to obtain the residential end-use data. The energy used in the residential sector was found to depend on the income. The population was divided into four in course classes - Poverty, Above Poverty, Middle Income and High Income. The fuel mix varivaried with the income with the lower income households opting for traditional fuels and the share of kerosene and LPG increasing with income. The DSS uses calorific values of the fuels and device efficiencies of end-use equipment to compute the end-use energy. Calculations and aggregations are possible at the end use level or in terms of the primary energy used.

The electricity requirement for the household sector is estimated based on the appliance stock matrix, rating and the utilisation factor matrix. The agricultural demand module estimates the amount of water required to be pumped based on the land area under different irrigation schemes, cropcalendar, water requirements for each crop, number of diesel and electric oil mill, flourmill, bell metal and brick kiln. The energy consumption is correlated with the production. The demands are aggregated to obtain the energy demand for the village, block or district.

The DSS has been developed using VC++ and permits the user to change inputs and assumptions. An energy balance has been carried out for 1994. Scenarios have been generated for 2005 to study the effect of different parameters on the energy situation. The DSS also has a village electrification module, which permits the calculation of the electricity load curve for a village. An illustration for Rajamele shows the sizing of different supply options - Gasifier, Solar PV for the given data. Results of the DSS can be displayed in tables, bar - charts, pie – charts or maps. The DSS can be used to answer what - if questions, can be used to estimate future demands under different development profiles, location of fuelwood plantations (areas under stress of deforestation), impacts of
efficiency improvements and planning of rural electrification. The DSS has been presented in a workshop to energy planners at IIT Bombay and has been demonstrated to officials from the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources during a training programme and has been transferred to the Maharashtra Energy Development Agency.

ECOLAND- A TOOL FOR LAND RESOURCE PLANNING WITH A LOCAL LANGUAGE INTERFACE

Biplab Bhusan Basu
School of Fundamental Research, Calcutta INDIA

ABSTRACT

Ecological diversity is sustained by abundance of food, shelter and coexistence of living beings including man in harmonious coexistence with water embedded in land system. The land and water with natural resource that were abundant and covered with natural tropical forests which, over the years, have been decimated to accommodate the agricultural interest of the growing human settlements. More than 60% of the land mass is undulating and serviced essentially by rainfed condition where watershed being the essential hydrological unit for planning, of a traditional land use, was not considered earlier as an important aspect of land use planning. The watershed based planning can obviously take into consideration the broader aspects of ecological parameters in land utilisation pattern of a land parcel or cluster of land parcels within a watershed.

Even progress and economic development of human society can only be possible within the broad natural parameters of replenishing biological resources. Sustainability of biological diversity shall only be possible if the ecological diversities are not obliterated. Certain changes in traditional land use are obvious and consequently we are beset with a problem of lack of harmony in the resultant scenario. Thus, we aspire for optimum land use planning which are based on current usage, natural land forms, ecosystem analysis, potentiality and inherent land situational limitations of soil and water and finally the dormant yet sustainable resource base of a habitat.

Thus, proper care in eco-designing of human habitat shall obviously be a deliberate attempt to create a designed ecosystem in harmony with the natural environment so as to remove the alienation imposed by the pressure of spatial as well as vertical developments with a notion of accelerated growth. Eco-designing, thus, is a dynamic response to the changing system of values, demands and dormant aspirations which profoundly affect all social and economic changes . Thus, we need ecologically sound sustainable pattern of development that does not undermine or jeopardize the very foundation of the natural production base or productivity options of a given ecosystem. It is rather an approach of eco-designing to ensure best use of natural resources like soil, water, forests, vegetation and all available biological life forms in total harmony with available skills to produce maximum benefit without destroying the traditional resource base. It, thus, stresses upon specific solution for the particular problem in a given eco-region with specific reference to ecological, cultural, current and long term needs. For agro-based economy, the ecological considerations are paramount in nature as it deals essentially with human interaction with the land parcel which is always a finite resource.

In the study of watersheds normally hydrology and soil features along with in situ land use status and conditions are observed and certain parameters are prioritised in determining the availability of water in terms of productive use for bio-mass generation and other economic and social needs of the community and its co-agricultural partners like, livestock and animal pets . While hydrological features are essentially a marked appearance of water and its subsidiary forms on the over-ground surface and its co-relationship in the under-ground in the lap of soil formation, the land use features reflect the evolution of traditional human wisdom to utilize the water in such lapped scenario for generating bio-mass for human need . Principally, land and water are co-recipient of natural endowments like rainfall, solar and celestial energy, wind energy and potential bio-energy held in the format of bio-mass as a productive energy transformed into realistic use. Changes in land use and appearance of bio-mass, although a feature of hydrological, hydro-geological aspects of soil and its interaction with water in a given sequence, the principal aspects of their presence and existence are alterable and can be tampered with by anthropogenic factors and by understanding of efficient use of the given endowments, yet these happenings are all on temporal scale. On the contrary, appearance of water on the upper surface and in the under-ground system along with soil is definitely influenced by some perennial aspects of our climate, principally solar energy, latitude/longitude, geographical aspect and wind energy.

The programme model on Optimum Land Use planning is in fact generation of a dynamic system model to identify the prospective productivity of the lowest level of administrative unit of land parcel considering the land use, basic soil environment (parameters), hydrology, meteorological and socio-economic aspects of the watershed. The system dynamics approach, have been used for evolving or supporting management decision-makings in planning. In this complex scenario, modeling of systems which have characteristics inputs for micro level land use, would require wider network of database, the system dynamic approach thus, implies a system as a non-linear feedback control system in terms of cause and effect relationship. It enables one to project into the future based on some inputs of identified resources. All these are aimed obviously for developing an optimum land use pattern which can provide, if necessary, a simultaneous alternative agro-economic scenario for maximising the economic gain of the land dependent community. The approach also determines the carrying capacity of each land parcel in various physiographic terrain situations.

To cater to the need and solution on a ecological parameter, a software Interface SFRECOLAND Ver. 4, 2001 was developed (Window Based) to act as decision support tool for the planners. This model can act as an interface for various decision support needs for the planners. Taking into consideration the various parameters of land use, water use, prospect of availability of water under the current condition and socio-economic demands. This model can provide a definitive perspective for land based agro ecological systems, even under current population and demographic conditions on the prospect of attaining a sustainable development in respect of all forms of demands of the living community provided some positive willful management interventions are ensured.

The SFRECOLAND Ver. 4 is a multi-dimensional interactive package where one has to enter inputs in the respective fields and the reports are formed in both linear and forecasting manner. The principal heads of the of data inputs are divided into three heads, viz,. Water, Socio-Economic, Climate. The Socio-Economic includes - Trees, Population, Biomass, Crop, Land Terrain, Infrastructure, Soil, Physiographic Cluster, etc., at mouza (Revenue village) level. The Water includes Pond, Groundwater, Soil Moisture, Water Draft, Canal data, etc mouzawize; and Climate includes the daily metereological data, viz. temperature, Relative Humidity (RH), evaporation, sunshine, runoff, sediment, soil temperature, water temperature, rainfall etc. watershed wise. Reporting and Forcasting section can be seen in both watershed and mouza scale. This section has been grouped into Land Use, Land Terrain, and Geomorphology. The basic outcome of the report deals with the Productivity analysis, year wise forecasting based on the base year. Biomass calculation is done on the basis of mouza wise data entry and ultimately the Optimum land use Projection (Physiographic cluster wise and at plot holding level) is done. It enables one to plan according to the inherent quality of his own land parcel based on soil and hydro-morphological features.

The availability of water or estimation at any given point of time and space is done through structured analysis of inputs in water in the sub-surface characteristics as expressed in temporal recharging or discharging pattern. This analysis helps to in better understanding of the availability of water resources on a temporal scale (recharge zone/discharge zone) for better expression of management option which gives the prospect for optimum landuse development. Taking all the parameters together the model can develop the Water balance.

Based on the validation studies undertaken for the model in Chagalkutta Watershed in Arkasa sub-basin in Darkeswar River system under sponsorship of NRDMS Division of Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, a perspective forecast planning for Teghari Gram Panchayat was successfully undertaken by involving local people and Panchayat functionaries. More so, in the traditionally drought prone area accurate forecasting on water resources in the sub-surface zone for year long maximum availability could be made and accordingly surface check dams, ponds/tanks and big diameter dug well sites could be identified and such possible structures could be created by the local people with financial assistance from Rural Development Ministry of Government of India. Since the intensive data base of the watershed was generated through participatory approaches, guided exposure and continuous interactions with the community, thus, they could rationally understand the relevance of the data based planning for a sustainable future which resulted in creating new tangible infrastructural assets to the community resource base. It has brought in new exploration and greater utilization of their land resources with the advent of water for use.

Since the SFRECOLAND model itself attempted to address the need of local level planners for micro-planning based on ecologically sustained local resources, it was but natural that both in format, visibility, use and in application it has to become and remain user friendly. Since the computer softwares developed as project outputs in NRDMS programmes are essentially developed in English, thus, the query and input/output matrixes are naturally developed in English. It has thus become essential to develop a language converter interface to be embedded in the Software products so developed, as above, for simultaneous translation /transliteration of the queries and subsequent outputs. Thus, as a consequence of appreciation of the need for a language converter interface for facilitating the user friendliness of SFR ECOLAND software as well as other NRDMS developments, in the process, additionally a work was initiated to present the approach in vernacular format for easier accessibility. This interface shall largely facilitate the appreciation of computer aided GIS-based technologies for local level development planning as it shall provide local vernacular (Hindi and Bengali or other vernacular languages) support for query and command base. The basic principle of such an interface aimed at developing a single structure string of the dictionary and updateable library to work at the back end.

Language converter module will transliterate any English word / phrase to Hindi and any other regional language like Bengali. The English text applied to any dialog boxes like Text, Combo, list, button etc. can be converted to Hindi and Bengali by passing the text as parameter to this module. There is a language dictionary related to this module which will automatically update every transliteration to itself. For example, if the following word in the text box is applied to the language converter module, it will transliterate the word to Hindi and Bengali and ask for spelling confirmation showing the given screen. It will also update the words to its dictionary.

SPATIAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR RURAL LAND USE PLANNING: A PROTOTYPE
J.Adinarayana
Centre of Studies in Resources Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
Powai, Mumbai - 400 076, INDIA

ABSTRACT

The established procedure for development planning in India remains top-down, by way of schemes to address specific problems and opportunities. These schemes are mandated and financed by the state or central government and implemented by sectoral institutions in the district, the key level for decentralized planning.

Districts are now required to draw up and implement integrated development plans, and those districts that have independent tax-raising powers are in a position to take the initiative. This task is made the more difficult by the strictly sectoral structure of government activity and of formal information about natural resources, social and economic conditions and infrastructure. To address the information problem, the Dept of Science and Technology, Government of India, is developing decision-support systems for decentralized planning using geographical information system (GIS) technology under the Natural Resources Data Management System (NRDMS) program. Its immediate clients are planners and the professional staff of line ministries, in particular the departments of agriculture, forestry, rural development, irrigation and revenue at the district level.

The concept of Spatial Decision Support System for Land Use Planning (SDSS/LUP) is to draw together the natural resources and land use data of sectoral agencies (topography, satellite imagery, census reports and thematic maps), process them to computer-compatible format, and build up a district database. The district database will be manned by an information specialist who can generate, on demand, a range of GIS products to assist planning and decision-making: analytical maps, statistical tables and input to models.

At the outset, a needs assessment was carried out amongst district-level staff to establish their requirements for spatial data. It proved difficult for them to articulate their needs but a number of specific requirements emerged from these discussions:

* Area (watershed/sub-watershed) selection for schemes for conservation planning by various line departments;

* Land evaluation for changes in land use (economic/conservation/radical options)

A vector-based prototype model, with ArcView GIS as the user-interface, was developed with two talukas (sub-district) and a rural watershed in Kolar District, Karnataka, India to test the concepts of SDSS/LUP. Although the prototype SDSS is specific to the test area, the methodology is designed to be applied to any area of India with local calibrations.
Preliminary results include (1) DSS on automated watershed characterization (drainage-network/stream-order; slope and watershed delineation); (2) DSS on generating various scenarios for selecting the priority watersheds/sub-watersheds: (a) degree to which watershed/sub-watershed satisfies the objectives of a particular scheme (based on physical and social indicators) – National Watershed Development Programme for Rainfed Agriculture (NWDPRA) scheme criteria; (b) on-site effects – Morgan’s soil erosion model; (c) off-site/down-stream effect – All India Soil & Land Use Survey (AISLUS) Sediment Yield Index model; and (d) actual extent of degraded lands obtained from remotely-sensed data for rehabilitation; and (3) DSS on suitable sites for percolation tanks in a watershed – Integrated Mission for Sustainable Development (IMSD) criteria.

Land evaluation for changes in land use is a more complex task, and at present the options are limited by the availability and scale of fundamental data. The problem of inadequate data is being handled in two ways: (1) Land use sustainability assessment (LUSA): To provide an immediate and useful service to decision makers, physical hazards have been identified. Then, indicators of these hazards for which information can be obtained have been sought. These indicators or limitations have been ranked in order of the ease of obtaining data. On the basis of the identification of hazards, district staff can design management packages to combat the threats to the sustainability of the desired land use, or recommend an alternative land use. A framework for LUSA has been developed, with rice and irrigation loops in the system. (2) Transfer functions and models: Transfer functions are being developed to derive the single attribute data required by LUSA and existing SDSS models.

The SDSS/LUP decision-aid, presumably, is technically a tightly defined system that has internal consistency.

The decision-support service that can be provided as of now meets the needs specified during the needs assessment. With a better database we can provide a better service on land evaluation aspects. Possibilities for future developments/collaborations in SDSS/LUP research will be discussed in the Conference.

INTEGRATED REGIONAL ENERGY PLANNING - CONCEPTS AND APPROACH

Dr. T.V. Ramachandra
Centre for Ecological Sciences
Indian Institute of Science
Bangalore 560 012, India

ABSTRACT

The central theme of the integrated energy plan would be to prepare an area based decentralised energy plans to meet energy needs for subsistence and development of alternate energy sources at least cost to the economy and environment. Centralised energy planning exercises cannot pay attention to the variations in socioeconomic and ecological factors of a region which influence success of any intervention. Decentralised energy planning is in the interest of efficient utilisation of resources. The regional planning mechanism takes in to account various resources available and demand in a region. This implies that the assessment of the demand and supply and the intervention in the energy system which may appear desirable due to such exercises must be at a similar geographic scale. In this regard, the District is accepted as the appropriate planning level. Kolar District, Karnataka State is chosen for carrying out present study. Planned interventions to reduce energy scarcity can take various forms such as (a) energy conservation through promotion and use of energy efficient stoves for cooking and water heating, compact fluorescent bulbs in place of ordinary incandescent bulbs, (b) supply expansions through energy plantations and (c) alternatives - renewable sources of energy such as micro/mini/small hydro power plants, wind, solar and biomass based systems. Ecologically sound development of the region is possible when energy needs are integrated with the environmental concerns at the local and global levels. For this purpose an integrated planning framework is necessary .

The use of DSS (Decision Support Systems) and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) for energy planning in developing countries is not as well established in large government agencies; however there are few research centres where hydrological and watershed assessments are being studied. Apart from these, energy planning in India is not an integrated activity. Various government agencies dealing with different resources, considers only the demand and projects the energy demand over a period of years without taking in to account efficiency of utilisation, scope for conservation with technology improvement, exploiting renewable sources.

In this situation, there is a need to develop integrated energy plan taking in to account spatial variation and seasonal variation in resource availability, energy demand etc. Apart from these, we attempt to consider decision structure, levels of decision making and implementation strategies in the regional energy plan.

Survey carried out in 133 villages in Kolar distict (covering all taluks, 2500 households) reveals that level of energy consumption and adoption of energy efficient technologies depends on a)level of education of end users of energy, b)land holding and finally to some extent c) community (our population is diverse, and there is a need to map all these aspects). This endevour helps to
1) identify hydel sites for electricity generation in a decentralised way,
2) assessment of potentials of wind, solar resources
3) Agro-ecological zonation helps in demarking degraded land, which helps planners to take up energy plantation to meet the fuel and fodder requirement of the region,
4) spatial mapping renewable energy sources and sectorwise energy demand,
5) Resource - demand balancing (modelling)

This paper presents a conceptual design for energy system which could meet demand of all sectors in the region. The proposed design would in principle, supply enough energy for a sustainable development of a region. The energy planning endeavor involves finding a set of sources and conversion devices so as to meet the energy requirements/demand of all the tasks in an optimal manner. This optimality depends on the objective; such as to minimise the total annual costs of energy or minimisation of non local resources or maximisation of system overall efficiency. Factors such as availability of resources in the region, task energy requirements impose constraints on the regional energy planning exercise. Thus, the regional energy planning turns out to be a constrained optimisation problem. This exercise describes an optimum energy allocation based on Integrated Energy Planning Approach for Kolar District and make a satisfying energy allocation plan for the year 2005, 2010 and 2015. Integrated energy planning developed based on Decision Support Systems (DSS) approach is flexible, adaptable, ecologically sound and gives an optimal mix of new renewable/conventional energy sources.

Regional Integrated energy plan (RIEP) is a computer assisted accounting and simulation tool being developed using Visual Basic and MS Access to assist policy makers and planners at district level in evaluating energy policies and develop ecologically sound, sustainable energy plans.

Energy availability and demand situation may be projected for various scenarios (base case scenario, high energy intensity, transformation, state growth scenarios) in order to get a glimpse of future patterns and assess the likely impacts of energy policies.

Integrated regional energy plan (Fig 1) serves several purposes:
1. As a Database
Demography (population during 1941-1991)
Natural resource (land use, land cover, forest types, wastelands,
agriculture- crop types, production, yield, irrigation details,
horticulture- crop types, residues.
plantation - area, type (social forestry programme)
2. Maintains energy information: data entry, data append, edit, unit conversions, querying, data retrieval, generation of reports, generation of graphs, link to spatial maps (district/taluk/village)
3. Forecasting tool - to make projections of energy supply and demand at 5 years interval
4. Policy analysis tool - simulates and assesses the effects of alternative energy programmes (technical economic, environmental effects).
5. Bibliography (Abstracts of papers published in journals) and energy database of other regions.
6. Links to various energy sites (URL of prominent sites dealing with energy and environment).
7. Assessment of Renewable energy potential, supply status of commercial sources of energy (electricity, oil, kerosene, etc.), Estimation of energy deamand of various sectors and techno economic and environmental assessment of alternatives.
Kolar depends mainly on non commercial forms of energy. Non commercial energy constitutes 84%, met mainly by sources like firewood, agricultural residues, charcoal and cowdung, while commercial energy's share is 16%, met mainly by electricity, oill etc.
The largest single user of bioenergy is the domestic sector, followed by industries. Increased shortage of wood fuels have forced many users to shift to substantial use of agricultural residues. Bio energy users are faced with limited options of accessible and affordable fuels.
8. Environment Technology Database (resources, technology, environmental aspects, biobliography)
Energy resources database (renewable and non renewable), energy demand database(sectorwise), environmental database, data aggregation, data analysis (energy scenarios, techno economic analysis) and integrated plan are the various modules being incorporated in the Integrated Regional Energy Plan. The energy scenarios module along with energy demand, transformation, techno-economic and environment module are used (in integrated module) to perform an integrated energy-environment planning exercise for a region (village / blocks/ taluk / district / state). Environmental database is used automatically calculate environmental impacts of energy scenarios.

Scenario analyses aids in creating a picture of the current energy situation and estimated future changes based on expected or likely plans and growth patterns. Base case or business-as-usual is based on present population growth, industrialisation, agricultural energy requirement.

It also helps in developing policy scenarios with alternative assumptions such as
1) transformation - through introduction of energy efficient devices such as fuel efficient stoves, improved furnaces, boilers, dryers, compact florescent lamps etc.
2) projection based on high energy intensity (such as rapid industrialisation with an energy demand increase of 20%)
3) projection based on state averages (growth in household, industry, agricultural and commercial sectors)
4) introduction of renewable energy technologies (solar, hydro, bio energy etc.) and agroforestry (conversion of wastelands with locally accepted species)
Data aggregation allows for coordinated planning at more than one spatial level. Such as energy scenario can be developed at village level and then aggregated to the taluk / district level.

Techno-economic analyses provides technical and economic viability of alternatives. This programmes draws upon the analytical methodology of "life-cycle" analysis. For each energy sources and technology option it also traces energy inputs and environmental impacts.

Integrated module integrates energy supply and demand analysis with energy scenario programmes and provides a full range of optimal policy alternatives in a common framework. This enables the policy maker / decision makers to examine the critical relationships between supply and demand, land use, bio resource issues, environmental sustainability and economic development.

The environmental database provides a comprehensive summary of data on the environmental consequences of energy use and production. This database would be linked to the energy scenario programme to provide information on the environmental impacts of energy alternatives.

REGIONAL INTEGRATED ENERGY PLANNING USING G.I.S
This project information is available on web. Details of URL is
ENERGY HOMEPAGE - http://144.16.65.194/energy/Welcome.html
Details of the project - introduction, objective, study area, DSS, results, progress of work apart from this the energy bibliography and links to URL's related to energy, energy modeling, ecological modeling and NRDMS.

SPATIAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS FOR GIS BASED INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING

Rajveer Singh Shekhawat
Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute, Pilani, Rajasthan, INDIA

ABSTRACT

A number of difficulties are faced by administrators at district level during planning and execution of various schemes of state and central government to help the targeted beneficiaries. However, due to lack of appropriate information and it’s timely dissemination, the plans are not as efficient as desired. Similarly, the implementation of such plans are not to the satisfaction of the planners as they can not properly monitor various aspects due to lack of availability of relevant information at right time.

Geographical Information Systems have the potential to help us in such situations. An SDSS is a customised GIS suited for a specific application due to the unique nature of attribute and spatial data that it is populated with. A number of techniques exist to implement such SDSS but all of these mainly consist of carrying out a number of network analyses of an abstract graph derived from network of facilities and roads these mapping into nodes and arcs respectively. As against routing, location and allocation problems are more challenging in network analysis. The traditional analytical models deployed for solving location and allocation problems do not consider social, economic and political concerns of decision makers. Similarly, real world problems have conflicting objectives and make the network analysis complex. The location models fail to search solution space where the utility (objective) function has multiple criteria. A decision support system tackles such ill or semi structured problems. It provides solution adaptively by using explicit knowledge of decision makers expert knowledge.

The paper describes a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) which has been developed with various capabilities to solve real world problems in public distribution of essential commodities. Public Distribution System means distribution of essential commodities to a large number of people through a network of FPS (Fair Priced Shops) on an irregular basis. These commodities can be wheat, rice, sugar, edible oil, kerosene, etc.

There are a number of problems with present distribution system. Some of these are enumerated below:

* No optimisation of transportation costs.