Workshop highlights water conservation challenges in Meghalaya

SHILLONG, April 22: In a state that receives high rainfall but struggles with water retention, a one-day workshop focusing on ‘Geo-Spatial Applications for Natural Resource Management with Special Reference to Water Conservation in Meghalaya’ was organised by the Meghalaya Basin Development Authority (MBDA) and the Centre of Excellence, at the MegARISE MBDA, Springside, RDL Building here, on Tuesday.
The workshop highlighted water conservation challenges in Meghalaya, which, despite its abundant rainfall, faces low water retention due to erratic rainfall patterns, deforestation, and unsustainable cultivation practices. Geo-spatial technology has played a key role in identifying critical watersheds and mapping surface water bodies by assessing soil moisture levels and monitoring land use changes.
“Geo-spatial technology uses remote sensing satellite data, ground-based maps, GPS data, and integrates them on a common platform with the help of software. It has become a very potent tool for all kinds of possible analysis,” said S Ashutosh, Co-Chairman and Director of the Centre of Excellence.
The keynote address was delivered by Head of the Department of Botany at NEHU, SK Barik, who shared insights into the evolution of the technology and its wide-ranging applications. “No other technology can reach the scale of geo-spatial technology, from the molecular level up to the bioscale level,” he mentioned.
The GIS lab has developed an extensive spatial database on the state’s natural resources, featuring over 100 layers relevant to natural resource management. The database is continuously evolving, drawing from a range of sources including government records, primary data collected by the MBDA’s GIS team, and ongoing analysis of existing spatial layers.
The day further saw presentations by participants from across departments.