Geological Survey of India, Southern Region, State Unit, Tamil Nadu & Puducherry, in association with the Commissionerate of Geology & Mining Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, organised a workshop on “National Geochemical Mapping data and its application and Familiarising the National Geoscience Data Repository portal” as per the directives of Ministry of Mines and Central Headquarters of Geological Survey of India for the benefit of the stakeholders including exploration agencies, Preventive Medicine and Public health welfare departments, Agricultural and Soil Conservation departments, Forest Department, Environmentalists, Pollution Control Boards, Water Quality control Departments and Academicians from Tamil Nadu State. 

National Geochemical Mapping programme flagged off by Geological Survey of India in year 2000 to cover the Obvious Geological Potential Areas and its extension in the entire country will be completed by this year 2024. This programme envisages generation of geochemical baseline data on 1:50,000 scale for the Indian landmass and preparation of seamless geochemical maps of 64 elements for the entire country.  In Tamil Nadu, a total area of 1,26,392 sq. km falling within 35 Toposheets has been covered so far.  The data generated by NGCM will be of great use to the exploration agencies, Preventive Medicine and Public health welfare departments, Agricultural and Soil Conservation departments, Forest Department, Environmentalists, Pollution Control Boards, Water Quality control Departments and Academicians.  This workshop is designed to create awareness about the nature of NGCM data generated, how it can be applied to various fields and where to find this

Further with the guidelines of Ministry of Mines, National Geoscience Data Repository Portal was developed to create a common platform for sharing the database and reports generated by the organisations and stakeholders working in Geoscience.  Already GSI has uploaded the data and reports generated so far into this portal and it is open for public to download and utilise the data for their respective domains of interest.  Owing to the recent auctioning of Mineral Potential Blocks by Ministry of Mines and the state Geology and Mining departments, this initiative to get the stakeholders familiarised with the NGDR portal is very significant.

The programme started with invocation song and lighting of lamp.  Shri Bonthu Ajaya Kumar, Dy. Director General, GSI, State Unit: Tamilnadu & Puducherry, in his welcome address, thanked the Ministry of Mines, Director General, GSI, Additional Director General, GSI, Southern Region and Commissionerate of Geology and Mines, Tamil Nadu, for their support extended in organising the event and extended a warm welcome to the participants. Shri Ch. Venkateswara Rao, Additional Director General, hoped that the data on the NGDR portal, which is free of cost, would pave the way for larger participation from the stakeholders. He referred to the data as modern gold and oil as it could be utilised in diverse fields. He hoped that the participants would take full advantage of the technical session. He appreciated the efforts of GSI and the Commissionerate of Mines and Geology, Tamil Nadu in organising the workshop.

Smt. Pooja Kulkarni, I.A.S., Commissioner of Commissionerate of Geology and Mines, Government of Tamil Nadu, appreciated GSI for taking the initiative of compiling data and creating a geo-database for familiarisation of mineral wealth and the availability of a database in the NGDR portal developed by GSI. The database is available for free download to the stakeholders of the Government and Private Sector and academicians. She asked various departments of Tamil Nadu to utilise the data freely available in the NGDR portal to the fullest potential.

Shri Prince Kumar, IFS, Deputy Conservator of Forest, Government of Tamil Nadu said that through this initiative, the Forest Department can efficiently handle the permission very efficiently and the creation of new forests by understanding the geochemical profile of the soil.

A Coffee Table Book highlighting the geology and mineral prospects of Tamil Nadu was also released during the occasion by the dignitaries. The programme ended with a vote of thanks proposed by Smt. Aruna, Joint Director, CGM,Government of Tamil Nadu.

    

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(Release ID: 2009164)