Uttarakhand@25: Surveyor general Makwana maps India's future on geospatial tech revolution
In a special episode of Uttarakhand@25, a series by The Times of India celebrating 25 years of the state's journey, IAS officer Hitesh Kumar S Makwana, the surveyor general of India, sheds light on how geospatial technology is shaping India's present and future, with Uttarakhand playing a central role in that mission.
Makwana, a 1995-batch IAS officer with an academic background in Civil Engineering, Economics, and Public Policy, brings over three decades of experience across urban governance, disaster management, border security, and housing.
He currently heads the Survey of India, the country's national mapping agency.
Dehradun's historic role in India's mapping legacy
Makwana explained that while the Survey of India was initially established by the British in Kolkata in 1767, the headquarters eventually moved to Dehradun in 1951.
The city's climate proved ideal for archiving sensitive mapping materials, and its proximity to institutions like IIT Roorkee provided skilled manpower.
"Dehradun's role in the evolution of Indian cartography is immense. Even the original copies of the Constitution of India were printed in our Dehradun press,' he shared. The presence of more than 3,000 Survey of India employees in Dehradun during its peak also made the organisation one of the major employment generators in the region.
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From traditional maps to real-time data
Tracing the evolution of the Survey of India, Makwana described the shift from using manual tools like theodolites and chains to modern technologies such as remote sensing, LiDAR, and drones.
Where earlier it took 70–80 years to complete a national map, now, with advanced geospatial tools, large-scale maps can be created in under a decade. These high-resolution maps — from a scale of 1:250,000 down to 1:2,000 — are transforming not just planning but also disaster management and urban development.
Makwana highlighted the newly announced National Geospatial Mission, which aims to bring all of this data infrastructure together in a unified system, with Survey of India playing a leading role.
Uttarakhand-specific projects: From Char Dham to land reforms
When asked about Uttarakhand-specific work, Makwana emphasised several projects. The Survey of India had developed trekking maps of the Char Dham route as far back as the 1950s. In recent times, it has carried out aerial surveys of the Ganga basin for flood modelling under the National Hydrology Project and created comprehensive land-use maps for the National Mission for Clean Ganga.
Additionally, under the Swamitva scheme, a drone-based survey was conducted in 7,000 villages of Uttarakhand to help residents receive digital land ownership records. This work is being extended to urban areas through the NAXA project, where four towns in the state have been selected for detailed geospatial surveys.
Supporting urban planning and disaster preparedness
Makwana explained how Survey of India data supports vital decision-making for roads, flood prevention, satellite launches, and more.
'Even ISRO needs to come to us to determine true north before launching a satellite,' he noted.
The same data is now being used to predict landslides, monitor land subsidence, and address urban flooding by identifying vulnerable low-lying zones. This allows planners to design better drainage and locate green spaces strategically.
Training the next generation
To build future capacity, the Survey of India is training Uttarakhand's government staff, while collaborating with institutes like the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing in Dehradun.
A certification programme for private citizens is also in the pipeline.
Makwana stressed that the role of AI and Machine Learning in analysing massive geospatial datasets is set to expand — but the real challenge lies in training personnel to use these tools effectively.
Message to the youth of Uttarakhand
Speaking directly to Uttarakhand's youth, Makwana said, 'Sky is the limit. Geospatial technology is a booming sector. With Dehradun being the headquarters of Survey of India, local youth have a golden opportunity to lead the country in this space.'
He closed with a call to action: 'Just as India has become a global leader in software, it is now time for us to become global leaders in geospatial technology — and Uttarakhand can be at the heart of that journey.'
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