Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have granted conditional exemption to Survey of India (Sol) from Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules, 2021. The drone deployment permission has been granted for large scale mapping of inhabited areas of villages under the central government scheme - Survey of villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas (SVAMITVA). This exemption is valid for a period of one year from the date of approval or until further orders, whichever is earlier and shall be subject to the terms and conditions of the SOP (issued by DGCA).

The SVAMITVA scheme aims to provide an integrated property validation solution for rural India. The demarcation of Abadi areas (the Abadi area includes inhabitant land, inhabited areas contiguous to Abadi and wadis/basties in rural areas) would be done using Drone Surveying technology, with the collaborative efforts of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, State Panchayati Raj Department, State Revenue Department. This permission grant will allow Large Scale Mapping (LSM) by Survey of India using drones. The aerial surveillance would generate high resolution and accurate maps to confer ownership property rights. Based on these maps or data, property cards would be issued to the rural household owners.

The digital spatial data/maps created under drone survey will be leveraged for the creation of the spatial analytical tools to support preparation of the Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP). The images captured through Drones would be processed by Survey of India in its Geographic Information System lab.

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