Bhuvan has many versatile features for visualisation of satellite imagery and maps, analysis, free data download

Though it was launched more than a decade ago as India’s answer to Google Earth, the desi geo-portal developed and managed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has not been used widely, feels the department-related Parliamentary committee on science and technology, environment, forests and climate change.

In its report on demand for grants (2018-19) for the Department of Space, which was presented in the Parliament on March 6, the committee stated that the use of the ISRO-developed Bhuvan has not been as widespread as Google Earth.

“The Committee takes note of various activities being satisfactorily undertaken by the department under its Space Applications program. At the same time, it

wishes to point out that it is essential that all the ministries/departments of the Union government and the respective state governments should make full and timely use of the data being collected and disseminated by the Department of Space. The Committee, accordingly, is of the opinion that synergy between the Department of Space and other government agencies, both at the Centre and in states, needs to be further strengthened. In this connection, the committee is pained to point out that the use of the ISRO-developed Bhuvan has not become as widespread as the use of Google. This needs immediate attention at the highest level,” the report stated.

According to ISRO, Bhuvan is the national geo-portal comprising geospatial data, services and tools for analysis. It has many versatile features for visualisation of satellite imagery and maps, analysis, free data download etc. The satellite imageries are multi-sensor, multi-platform and multi-temporal. It can be visualised in 2D and 3D. Bhuvan supports many applications that address governance and other geospatial applications that are being used by the central and state governments departments, academia and industry.

Punjab, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and North-eastern states are among the ones using Bhuvan.