Goa to create cultural map using Gati Shakti platform

PANAJI: The state intends to use the PM Gati Shakti national mission portal to create a 'Cultural Atlas of Goa' and a time series map and analysis of domestic and international tourist footfalls in the state. The project will be implemented using funds allocated to the tourism department and no central funding will be sought, state government officials said.
To create the cultural atlas, a list of all festivals, events and fairs will be identified and marked on a GIS map. The Goa Electronics Limited and the tourism department will work on the project and will also identify and map all the libraries, religious sites and museums in the state.
Data will then be collected on the number of tourists who visit these locations as well as the available infrastructure at the locations to cater to the tourists, government officials told TOI. Along with this, the water resource department (WRD) is using the PM Gati Shakti portal to plan the pump house along the banks of Kalna to overcome the shortage of water supplied to the water treatment plant at Chandel and the Mopa airport.
“These are ongoing projects. The state has also completed some projects using the Gati Shakti portal,” Goa Investment Promotion Board (GIPB) chief executive officer and state nodal officer Swetika Sachan said.
Goa prepared the evacuation plan for flood-prone regions of Sanquelim and Amona using the Gati Shakti portal. “The shortest distance to reach mapped key assets such as government buildings, schools, places of worship andhospitals was planned,” said Sachan.
She also said that the civil supplies department has mapped all the fair price shops and godowns on the platform and the shortest route was identified to reduce transportation cost. In the future, the state also plans to map all the agricultural clusters in Goa, the GIPB CEO said.
Responding to concerns about the apparent lack ofplanning and local stakeholder discussions for big ticket projects such as Atal Setu and double tracking up to Vasco, she said that these projects were conceptualised before Gati Shakti was introduced. “Henceforth, for future projects we will definitely work with the ministries and state government departments to ensure that there is better land acquisition and interaction with the local stakeholders.”