OU partners with ISRO’s-NRSC to virtually shield its campus – Telangana Today

Using a mix of advanced technology and traditional mapping, the university’s administration will soon geofencing its vast campus. The initiative is aimed not only at identifying and addressing unauthorised land use, but also at protecting its land and property.

Hyderabad:As land grabbing challenges increase, Osmania University (OU) is planning a project to protect its land from land sharks.

Using a mix of advanced technology and traditional mapping, the university administration will soon geofencing its vast campus. The initiative is not only aimed at identifying and addressing unauthorised land use but also protecting its land and properties from the land mafia.

Geofencing refers to a virtual fence or perimeter around a physical location, which can extend over hundreds of acres, with a satellite view and GPS coordinates.

To take the initiative further, the university will soon collaborate with the ISRO’s National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) for virtual fencing. The NRSC will capture extensive high-resolution images of the campus using one of the satellites, such as Cartosat-3.

The satellite images are then overlaid on the original map of the university. With combined maps, the university can identify the unauthorized structures that have emerged on the university premises. Furthermore, since virtual boundaries have been set around the campus and satellite images are captured periodically, the university administration can easily detect encroachments on the premises.

According to sources, the Cartosat-3, developed by ISRO, captures high-resolution images from over 500 km away. Even a pencil, pen or stick on the ground would be easily distinguishable through the satellite images.

“Since the OU is a century old, the Survey of India may be asked for help in providing original maps of university lands for virtual fencing, besides identifying encroachments,” sources said.

To begin with, the university administration will geofence its campus and later extend the initiative to its constituent and PG centres. For this, a memorandum of understanding will be signed with the NRSC soon, a senior university official told ‘Telangana Today’.

According to reports, 3,300 square meters of the university land was encroached upon by land sharks during the lockdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The reports also suggest that over 50 acres of the OU land was also encroached upon and cases related to them were pending in the court.