PM Gati Shakti for ease of living

Since its launch two years ago, various infrastructure ministries have effectively demonstrated the use of the GIS (geographic information system)-enabled planning platform of the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP) to plan big-ticket infrastructure projects. Thus, whether it is the ambitious energy corridor of the railways, Bharatmala project of national highways, or port connectivity projects under Sagarmala, are all being planned in compliance with the Gati Shakti approach of holistic, multimodal connectivity to economic centres.
 

In the last one year, as envisaged by the Prime Minister, social sector ministries have also started using the Gati Shakti NMP in innovative ways, demonstrating the immense benefits leading to ease of living for citizens. Cases emerging out of the social sector, particularly from states and districts, are showcasing the great potential of using a geospatial planning approach for delivering last-mile connectivity, especially in rural and difficult terrains.
 

The Department of School Education and Literacy has mapped more than 14 lakh schools (pre-primary, primary, upper primary, secondary and higher secondary) on the PM Gati Shakti NMP for real-time monitoring of provision of facilities. The PM Shri Schools has also been mapped to identify other schools nearby, based on geospatial information, with the objective to anchor them.
 

With the Prime Minister launching the aspirational blocks programme, the use of PM Gati Shakti for district-level, area-based planning is being facilitated as well. Once the districts scale up their usage of PM Gati Shakti (PMGS) as a planning tool, and start leveraging the potential of its rich satellite imagery and easy visualisation, they can deliver good governance at the doorstep of households easily.
 

For instance, the query-based gap analyser tool can be used by each district in the country to assess first- and last-mile road connectivity of roads to schools in ru­ral areas, besides connectivity to power line distribution, drinking water access and sanitation infrastructure, fostering a holistic approach to education related inf­rastructure planning. Data layers pertaining to industries in districts can also be used to identify vocational courses that could be run in the high schools for stud­e­nts, equipping them with life skills, and ty­ing up with apprenticeship with industries.
 

Schools can be rationalised as well using PMGS, as has been accomplished by the state of Goa, which identified and consolidated underutilised schools with their nearest counterparts for improved res­ource allocation. Extending the approach, Uttar Pradesh has also used the NMP for site selection of new hospitals, and even location of new wheat purchase centres, planning them closer to growing areas.
 

Meanwhile, the district of Dahod in Gujarat has been able to identify new water sources, using satellite imagery across the four seasons. At the same time, it has identified unirrigated land in the vicinity and designed a low-cost drip irrigation system, besides planning development of agro-processing units. Thus, through the use of the Gati Shakti platform the district has created potential to irrigate more than 1,000 hectares of adjoining region, besides creating growth and employment opportunities.
 

In Arunachal Pradesh, easy visualisation of data on PM Gati Shakti has been used to develop tourist potential of the area around Bichom Dam, duly identifying connectivity projects for areas of tourist interest, health centres, schools and anganwadis, besides potential location for cold storages of horticulture crops such as pineapple, orange, papaya and dragon fruit.
 

The Ministry of Women and Child Development has initiated work on using Gati Shakti as an effective tool for locating new anganwadi centres. Pilots have been carried out in Gujarat that demonstrated the use case. At the same time, Poshan Tracker has been developed for collecting data on nutrition of children and other parameters for anganwadi centres under Mission Poshan. Integrating Poshan Tracker with the PMGS portal will enable monitoring of each anganwadi centre on nutrition, while also enabling analysis of infrastructure deficits that might be impacting nutritional gains of children and women.
 

When it comes to city logistics, Gati Shakti is being leveraged to develop city logistics plans through the outer ring roads in Kanpur, Bengaluru and Srinagar, with the aim of decongesting urban areas and enhancing first and last-mile connectivity for key economic hubs. Further, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has integrated 271 city master plans with PM Gati Shakti NMP, which can now be effectively used by each urban body to augment infrastructure in areas of congestion and bottlenecks.
 

The Ministry of Jal Shakti is planning to identify unserved areas near water resource points, aiming to enhance access to drinking water facilities in diverse units such as households, hospitals, industries, and educational facilities, fostering a holistic approach to infrastructure planning.

The Ministry of Power has facilitated the alternate path identification tool with technical partner ­-N on the PM Gati Shakti NMP portal to identify an optimal transmission line route in hilly areas, effectively reducing interference with forests and coal mines, streamlining the approval process, thereby resulting in a decrease in clearance time from months to days.
 

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship is efficiently using the Gati Shakti approach for identifying suitable locations to set up training institutes near industrial/economic clusters, or special economic zones, according to the demand of skilled manpower.
 

The true impact of PMGS is being seen in its increasing usage by stakeholder ministries/departments of government of India, by the states and in the emerging use cases led by local administrators in cities and districts of India. As states and districts expand their usage of the NMP, the benefits that will flow to the citizens in terms of ease of living will further reinforce the use of this visionary planning tool, resulting in a virtuous cycle.

The writer is special secretary (logistics), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, government of India