Workshop Report

Geographical Information System

(GIS) & Media Coverage on Land
Acquisition
Safal Verma
S143F0029
Understanding what is GIS?
A geographic information system or geographical information system (GIS) is a
system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types
of spatial or geographical data. A geographic information system (GIS) lets us
visualize, question, analyze, and interpret data to understand relationships, patterns,
and trends.
With GIS (geographic information system) you can do all sorts of geography-related
stuff find places, of course, but also find the best place to locate your business,
among other things. The following list summarizes some of the tasks you can
accomplish with GIS:
v Find geographic features: We can search a GIS database to find point, line,
area, and surface features by their descriptions or measurements.
v Measure geographic features: We can measure lengths, widths, areas, and
volumes, and compare sizes from one feature to another.
v Characterize distributions: We can group geographic features and define
their distributions based on how much space they use, how close they are to
each other, and where they are relative to other features.
v Summarize geographic data: We can calculate all sorts of statistics on our
geographic features from the simplest descriptive statistics (for example,
mean, median, and mode) to very complex spatial statistics.
v Work with networks: We can find routes based on time, distance, or other
factors. We can route buses to reach the maximum number of people and use
this population density information to locate stores near our customers.

GIS is used to display and analyze spatial data, which are tied to databases. This
connection is what gives GIS its power: maps can be drawn from the database and
data can be referenced from the maps. When a database is updated, the associated
map can be updated as well. GIS databases include a wide variety of information
including: geographic, social, political, environmental, and demographic. GIS uses
layers, called "themes," to overlay different types of information, much as some static
maps use mylar overlays to add tiers of information to a geographic background.
How GIS Works?
It is estimated that approximately 80% of all information has a "spatial" or geographic
component. In other words, most information is tied to a place. So when making
decisions about siting new facilities, creating hiking trails, protecting wetlands,
directing emergency response vehicles, designating historic neighborhoods or
redrawing legislative districts, geography plays a significant role.
This is where GIS comes in. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology is a
computer-based data collection, storage, and analysis tool that combines previously
unrelated information into easily understood maps. But GIS is much more than maps.
A GIS can perform complicated analytical functions and then present the results
visually as maps.
Components of a GIS
A working GIS integrates five key components: hardware, software, data, people, and
methods.
Hardware
Hardware is the computer on which a GIS operates. Today, GIS software runs on a
wide range of hardware types, from centralized computer servers to desktop
computers used in stand-alone or networked configurations.
Software
GIS software provides the functions and tools needed to store, analyze, and display
geographic information. Key software components are
v
v
v
v

Tools for the input and manipulation of geographic information

A data base management system (DBMS)
Tools that support geographic query, analysis, and visualization
A graphical user interface (GUI) for easy access to tools

Data
Possibly the most important component of a GIS is the data. Geographic data and
related tabular data can be collected in-house or purchased from a commercial data
provider. A GIS will integrate spatial data with other data resources and can even use
a DBMS, used by most organizations to organize and maintain their data, to manage
spatial data.
People
GIS technology is of limited value without the people who manage the system and
develop plans for applying it to real-world problems. GIS users range from technical
specialists who design and maintain the system to those who use it to help them
perform their everyday work.
Methods
A successful GIS operates according to a well-designed plan and business rules,
which are the models and operating practices unique to each organization.
Implementing a GIS is a complex and involved process. Many factors such as user
base, monies, accuracy desired, and area of interest need to be assessed before
implementing GIS software.
Choosing the right GIS Software
When choosing a GIS, we should always try to find software completed with
applications specifically built to fir the specific needs of the final users. We have to
make sure that we are considering all the options, the pros and cons, before picking
the GIS software. Take a careful look at what the goals are going to be, scope
potential projects in the future of the company, know business, and then go for the
GIS that fits the needs.
Any GIS user should consider a few elements before deciding what might be the right
tool for them. For example, select software built on an open database platform if they
want to be able to easily integrate their geographic datasets into other existing
applications.
Of great importance is also the idea that GIS should be able to integrate new
applications and grow at the same pace that the rest of the organization. We should be
able to organize the data quickly, accurately, and reliably. When a GIS is easily
extensible, IT staff can quickly adapt the GIS software to the real needs of the
company and the users.
We cant forget the amount of data that you are going to be use, because your system
should manage that amount of data without limiting the resources for other

applications. We should make sure that we select a GIS that is strong enough to work
with data provided from different sources, with different formats and in a great
variety of sizes.
One of the most important considerations to think about when trying to get the best
GIS, is asking ourselves what we are going to be using the GIS for. Always look
carefully at what you want to do and how we want to accomplish that goal before
choosing between GIS vendors and products.
Try to get a GIS that meets international standards, so we will be able to work with
data coming from many different systems, giving to our projects another value, such
as the interoperability with different vendors and clients. Internet provides userfriendly interfaces that will help to our company to look much more interesting to our
potential new clients.
Examples applications of GIS in traditional business
Business owners search for properties available for development or new business.
Extracting the maximum value from a GIS requires more than just publishing map
layers to a web-mapping site. GIS delivers real value when integrated with an
enterprise's traditional line-of-business data and applications. Farallon's BI systems
integration solutions include:
v Targeted Marketing and Market Analysis: A GIS integrated with your
existing CRM lets you visually identify your most valuable customers,
visualize demographic correlates with sales, and then target where new
customers with similar demographic characteristics are located.
v Routing and Logistics: GIS network analysis lets businesses track vehicles
and inventory, analyze delivery patterns, generate best-routing maps, predict
and adjust for road volumes, project station resources based on pick-up
density and activity, and manage transportation fleets & logistics.
v Commercial Real Estate Feasibility & Planning: GIS lets you quickly
determine the best locations for services centers, stores, warehouses, or
corporate offices, based on proximity to customers, transportation
infrastructure.
v Customer Service Infrastructure: Location information is critical for
customer service. It answer basic questions like how long will it take to
deliver a product or is there a store nearby.

Business Intelligence data and analysis is an increasingly important tool for

executives and financial managers who comb statistical data. But while over 80% of
business data has location as a component, few businesses take full advantage of
spatial and location analysis.
Location can be an address, a service boundary, a sales territory, or a delivery route.
All these things can be visualized and interactively managed and analyzed in a GIS.
Spatial relationships, patterns and trends reveal invaluable business intelligence and
bring easy-to-understand visualization to business applications.
MEDIA COVERAGE OF LAND ACQUISITION AND COMPENSATION IN
INDIA
Land acquisition in India refers to the process by which the union or a state
government in India acquires private land for the purpose of industrialization,
development of infrastructural facilities or urbanization of the private land, and
provides compensation to the affected land owners and their rehabilitation and
resettlement.
Land acquisition in India is governed by the Right to Fair Compensation and
Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013
(LARR) and which came into force from 1 January 2014. Till 2013, Land Acquisition
Act of 1894 governed land acquisition in India. On 31 December 2014, the President
of India promulgated an ordinance with an official mandate to "meet the twin
objectives of farmer welfare; along with expeditiously meeting the strategic and
developmental needs of the country". An amendment bill was then introduced in
Parliament to endorse the Ordinance. Lok Sabha passed the bill but the same is still
lying for passage by the Rajya Sabha. On 30 May 2015, President of India
promulgated the amendment ordinance for third time. Union Government of India has
also made and notified the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land
Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Social Impact Assessment and
Consent) Rules, 2014 under the Act to regulate the procedure.
A major issue in contemporary development policy concerns compensation paid to
those whose traditional livelihoods are uprooted by modern industrial projects. This
involves both equity and efficiency considerations. In the absence of a welfare state
those who are rendered unemployed by industrialization are left at the mercy of
market forces. Inadequate compensation of such groups results in a political and
social fallout, which can undermine the political sustainability of such programs.
Political effects aside, compensation policies have important effects on economic
efficiency as well. Landowners would have no private incentive to incorporate these
losses in their decision to convert land. Inadequate compensation can thereby create
incentives for excessively rapid industrialization. Moreover, the anticipation of such
conversions in the future breeds insecurity of tenure among those currently engaged
in agriculture, with implications for their incentives to undertake investments that

enhance farm productivity.

These problems have surfaced quite prominently all over the world in the past two
decades, and in particular, in rapidly industrializing countries such as China and India.
The transition to industrialization in these countries has been marked by conversion of
agricultural land into land earmarked for industrial projects and urban real estate
development. The compensations paid to those displaced have been criticized as
being inadequate. The process of determining and implementing these compensations
has been described as arbitrary, ad hoc and lacking transparency. There have also
been complaints of the lack of any rights or participation of those displaced in the
process of transition.
Hindustan Times on 27 Sep 2015 reported a story of a man from NCR who is a
retired schoolteacher from Faridabad named Jai Narayan. He is very angry as nobody
would listen to him, not the bureaucrats of Haryana, not the judges of the state High
Court, not the journalists, at times, not even fellow villagers.
He had ten-acre farm before the state government acquired it in 2006. Today, it lies
barren, surrounded by the menacing multistoried apartment complexes, a sight typical
of the National Capital Regions skyline. He doesnt understand what does the
government need his land for? What can they develop on his patch now? It would be
given away to big builders, just like all these other plots there.
A five-minute drive from his patch is the house of Manoj Yadav, 41, who has a
similar story. In 2006, about 5,000 farmers from five villages in the region received a
notice that HUDA (Haryana Urban Development Authority) would be acquiring 638
acres of their land for residential and commercial purposes. The compensation
offered for 342 acres in 2009 (some land was released in the interim) at the time was
Rs 16 lakhs per acre, an amount that landowners such as Jai Narayan, Manoj and
several others in the area felt was much below the market price for their properties.
This, they claim, was ascertained by private sale deeds in the area. There have been
sales of land in the area that have fetched owners up to Rs 22 crore per acre. Why is
the government then paying them a fraction for the same kind of land?
In cases where the state had made an award (compensation offer) five years ago, but
compensation has not been paid, and/or the physical possession of land has not been
taken, the acquisition stands cancelled.
The Maharashtra government has gone ahead with its move of pushing for land
acquisition by offering the maximum compensation allowed, four times the price of
land, for rural areas. The revenue department has issued a notification in this regard.
This is the maximum allowed by the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in
Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, according to senior
officials.

The Land Acquisition Act allows state governments to fix compensation for rural and
semi-urban areas between two and four times the land value. The state government
has decided to fix compensation 3.2 times the land value for semi-urban areas. The
compensation in urban areas is fixed at two times the land value. The state
government had earlier this month also paved the way for direct purchase of land,
offering higher compensation for landowners, including farmers. The argument was
that the Act did not bar such private purchase.
Anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare has also begun a protest demanding the
removal of changed rules. Mr. Hazare and opposition parties believe that the new
rules will be unfair to farmers and the poor.
The BJP is likely to get the new rule passed in the lower house of the parliament,
where it has a majority. But the party and its allies are expected to encounter a hurdle
in the upper house of the parliament where they are in a minority and need the support
of opposition parties to pass laws.
The Times of India says Prime Minister Narendra Modi has to "walk the talk" and
get opposition parties on board to pass the bill in both houses of parliament. "While
there may be some give and take on the fine print, Mr Modi must stick to his guns
while deploying all of his diplomatic skills in bringing sections of the opposition on
board," it says.
The paper adds that "restrictions on buying land are one of the key reasons holding up
projects worth almost $300 billion and the PM must walk his talk". The Tribune also
urges the government to not give in to the pressure from opposition parties.
"Any dilution of the ordinance, however, would send a wrong signal to industry,
which has come to believe that the Modi government is all powerful and can take hard
decisions, unlike the previous Manmohan Singh regime," it says. The paper adds that
"today it is a compromise on the land issue, tomorrow it could be on labor laws.
Problems arise because narrow political interest guides decisions, not good of the
nation".
Farmers' concerns Hindi newspaper Amar Ujala, however, says that government
seems to have forgotten that India's economy is largely based on agriculture. "It seems
that the government did not realize that India is an agriculture-based economy and
any land acquisition law that favors corporate houses could be harmful for the
government," it says. Another Hindi daily Jansatta also believes that the new rules
will increase forced acquisition of land from farmers.