NT Reporter
Panaji
The Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) has proposed a high-precision aerial LiDAR survey of khazan lands in Morombi-O-Pequeno village in Tiswadi to identify vulnerable areas, map possible encroachments and assess the effects of tidal flooding and coastal changes on the traditional estuarine ecosystem.
The pilot project will be undertaken in collaboration with the local Khazan society and the Water Resources Department. It will use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) fitted with LiDAR technology to prepare detailed elevation maps and three-dimensional representations of the terrain.
According to the proposal, Tiswadi has the largest area of khazan lands in Goa. The survey is expected to provide data for the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP), flood mitigation measures and environmental protection, besides helping identify unauthorised development.
The work will involve establishing survey benchmarks, collecting ground control points using Differential GPS and carrying out drone-based LiDAR mapping. The data will be processed to generate orthorectified images, Digital Elevation Models
(DEM) and Digital Surface Models (DSM), depicting natural terrain as well as surface features such as vegetation and buildings.
The agency will identify and demarcate khazan lands by combining elevation data with government land-use records and other departmental datasets, followed by field verification. Existing GCZMA maps will also be superimposed to assess changes in coastal
features since 1991, including possible encroachments and modifications to bunds and seawalls.
The study will prepare
inundation maps by combining tidal-water levels with elevation and land-use data to identify areas
dvulnerable to tidal flooding, coastal erosion and seawater intrusion.
