On July 8, Piyush Goyal took charge of the Ministry of Textiles and started reviewing the functioning and performance of the textile sector. During the review meetings of National Textile Corporation Ltd., the largest CPSU under the Ministry of Textiles, the minister suggested that NTC should adopt the latest methods and technology to ensure the safety of its land against encroachments.
Goyal suggested using drones to survey NTC mills to protect and monitor the land of the CPSU periodically. Such surveillance would enable NTC to take swift action against the encroachments at the initial stages, making it easier to remove them from the properties owned by the government-owned company.
There is always a risk involved in traditional ways of conducting surveys on the properties via CCTVs and manual intervention. CCTVs are prone to theft and breakage, while manual intervention can attract unwanted confrontation with the encroachers without sufficient protection from the police. On the other hand, drone surveying is an easier, economical and more efficient way of surveying and mapping a piece of land.
In such surveillance, there is no need for manual intervention as drones can be operated from a distance. Additionally, the feed can be directed to software for quick analysis of the land. Surveying land from different heights and various camera angles give a better perspective of the situation based on the layout of the land. Compared to other methods to survey the land from the sky, including satellites and helicopters, drones have the capacity to fly at lower altitudes and capture high-resolution images at an economical price.
Also, the time consumed in the conventional method of land surveying is much more compared to drone-based surveying. In conventional methods carrying equipment from one location to another require manpower, but in drone surveying, only one or two operation in-charge can handle a complete budget-friendly survey of the location with high accuracy.
Pilot drone survey
Based on the directions provided by Minister Piyush Goyal, NTC conducted a pilot drone survey and extracted land mapping of five mills at various locations, including Somasundaram Mills and Kaleeswara Mills situated in the Southern Region and JAM Mills, Finlay Mills and Digvijay Mills in the Western Region. The previous maps and images available in NTC records were used to compare the new maps to assess any encroachments or undesired changes.
The officials at NTC found that drone survey mapping its land assets very efficient and effective, and they would continue to monitor the land assets across India using drone surveys to protect their land from any kind of encroachments in the future.
