Farmers google for a solution

An NGO has used satellite images to counter the state govt’s claim that land earmarked for SEZs is infertile

Google has done it again. This time, it is not a big acquisition or the announcement of a new product. Instead, it’s the manner in which one of its services has been put to use that’s creating a buzz. Farmers of a small taluka, about 100 km from Mumbai, in Maharashtra’s Raigad

district, have used Google Earth in their fight against the state government’s decision of acquiring 11,000 hectares of land for Special Economic Zones (SEZs).

Farmers of Pen taluka, aided by activists of an NGO, SEZ Hatao Sangharsh Samiti, are using pictures of land in Pen taken from Google Earth as a proof of it being fertile. The local officials had deemed the same land as infertile and had earmarked it for development of SEZ. There are 24 villages in the Pen taluka, one in Panvel and 20 in Uran that would get affected by the government’s decision.

According to Arun Shivkar, a member of the convener committee of the NGO, the authorities’ version of the type of land in Pen is contradictory to what Google Earth showed. Activist Vaishali Patil says that the local officials had submitted a report to the state government about the land being infertile and low in production, but this did not show on the satellite pictures.

Using Google Earth’s pictures, Shivkar and his colleagues have started a public awareness programme in Pen and have involved farmers in it.

“We are telling farmers the facts about their land with the aid of Google Earth,” Shivkar told DNA. But will the authorities admit pictures of Google Earth as a definitive proof of their claims? Shivkar said many government servants themselves have no clue about Google Earth. “Besides we are consulting legal experts on this issue,” he said.

Dr R R Navalagund, Director, Space Application Centre, told DNA over phone from Ahmedabad, “You can get higher resolution images from Google Earth to identify waste land. But the images are for one season. In order to identify the condition of the land, the images have to be for at least two seasons. Our satellites have mapped land data across the country and you need to analyse land usage over multiple seasons.” 

So how did Shivkar, who runs an NGO involved in working with adivasis, stumble upon Google Earth? “My nephew, who works in Mumbai, suggested that I take a look at Google Earth. Frankly, I didn’t know what Google Earth was. Since I don’t have an Internet connection at home, I went to an Internet Café to take a look at it. Google Earth's imagery convinced me about its use as a tool to educate farmers and help them fight for their rights.”

Shivkar has decided to make use of Google Earth for a larger cause. He says that Google Earth pictures showing the condition of canals, rivers and coastline in different villages will be displayed as big banners in respective villages so that people would know what environmental changes would take place in the future.

Shivkar is also planning to make use of Google Earth's pay service facility which provides the latest picture of the specific area. Patil contends that around 14,000 hectares of land in and around Pen taluka has been declared infertile by the state, a claim that gets refuted by satellite imagery. “The fact is only 3,500 hectares of land is infertile,” she said.