UPSC Mains 2025 GS1 Q15: model answer

GIS layers spatial data; remote sensing (satellites) supplies it at scale. Drones and AI make this data sharper and faster to use.

What each adds

• Drones: centimetre-level imagery, on demand, under cloud cover where satellites fail.
• AI: machine learning classifies land use, spots change, and predicts demand (traffic, water, housing) from large datasets.

Uses in locational and areal planning

• Land records: SVAMITVA has drone-mapped village homesteads to issue property cards.
• Urban planning: 3D city models, encroachment detection, choosing sites for schools, clinics and EV charging by catchment analysis.
• Infrastructure: PM Gati Shakti's GIS platform aligns roads, rail and utilities; drones survey highway corridors.
• Agriculture: crop area and yield estimates, Kisan drones for spraying, site choice for warehouses.
• Disaster planning: flood mapping, landslide-susceptibility zoning, post-disaster damage assessment.
• Environment: forest cover change (ISFR), mining boundaries, wetlands.

Challenges: data privacy, drone rules near sensitive zones, skills at the local-government level, and biased training data.

Way forward: open geospatial data under the Geospatial Guidelines 2021 and the National Geospatial Policy 2022, training for planners, and audit of AI models.