GUWAHATI – Under the dynamic leadership of Dr. Ranbir Singh, IAS (Retd.), Chairman of the Brahmaputra Board, the North Eastern Hydraulic and Allied Research Institute (NEHARI), in collaboration with the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), successfully conducted a five-day training workshop on “GIS and Remote Sensing for Water Resource Sector” from April 22 to 26, 2025.
The program was inaugurated by Dr. Ranjit Deka, Director of NEHARI, who emphasized the growing importance of integrating GIS and remote sensing technologies into water resource management to ensure more effective practices. In his address, Dr. Deka highlighted the critical role these tools play in addressing regional challenges and optimizing resource utilization.
The comprehensive workshop featured a blend of lectures and hands-on sessions covering a wide range of topics, including an introduction to the basics of remote sensing and GIS, accessing open data sources for the water resource sector, and the application of Google Earth Engine. Participants engaged in practical training modules such as GIS interface navigation, adding data layers and basemaps, SAR data processing, riverbank migration analysis, watershed delineation, and advanced GIS operations like interpolation, extraction, reclassification, and change detection.
Experts from leading institutions including the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), the North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC), and the National Water Academy (NWA) in Pune served as faculty members, bringing valuable field experience and technical expertise to the sessions.
The training concluded with a valedictory ceremony chaired by Dr. Ranbir Singh. In his closing remarks, Dr. Singh underlined the transformative potential of GIS and remote sensing in enhancing organizational performance, particularly in the water resource sector. He praised the enthusiasm of the participants and urged them to implement their newly acquired skills in their respective fields.
A total of 23 participants from various offices of the Brahmaputra Board and Water Resource Departments of Assam, Mizoram, Sikkim, West Bengal, Meghalaya, and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) successfully completed the training and were awarded certificates during the closing ceremony, marking a significant step forward in strengthening water management practices across Northeast India.