Nobody would disagree with the fact that developing a single layer of spatial data at country level, utilizing Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques, takes years. Governments, especially those of the third world; are investing a considerable amount of resources in the form of developmental grants and foreign aid to establish GIS in various institutions. However, it is a dilemma that these systems are often established without any inter-institutional coordination and thus result in highly incompatible (with each other) hardware, software and data coding procedures. Also such practices duplicate data and waste considerable effort and funds. This paper suggests that a single well-linked Geographic Information System is needed in Pakistan. It is proposed that a centralized, well-managed platform be established with various nodes at different locations. This is the only and the best way that a GIS can be a valuable and long-lasting asset in countries like Pakistan where developing and updating an information bank may become an impractical task.
INTRODUCTION With the adoption of the Pakistan National Conservation Strategy (PNCS), Pakistan joins that group of countries which cares for future planning and development within the context of a national environmental framework. The ability to implement the recommendations of technical experts, practitioners, and advocates of good environmental practices, is the key to sustainable development and changes within the country. Pakistan is a densely populated country. With a population growing rapidly at the rate of 3.2% annually, increasing pressure is being placed on the nation's natural resources. Dealing with this problem is made difficult by shortages of technical skills. Apart from the issue of natural resource conservation caused by rapid population growth, the accelerating pace of national development due to rapid urbanization and infrastructure development also creates an expanding need for more and better information. This information in needed to ensure the efficient and effective utilization of the resources being expended on these facets of national development. National priorities for dealing with resource management and development issues are determined partly by international obligations arising from international conventions to which Pakistan is a signatory. Another significant influence shaping these national priorities are the priorities of the donors of the aid which Pakistan receives from the international community. This makes it difficult to formulate a cohesive national strategy for coping with the intensifying pressure on the nation's natural resources. But given the limited resources and the skills limitations the country faces, it is imperative that the country chooses carefully its priorities for development These choices are, of course, heavily dependent on the amount and quality of information at the disposal of the nation's decision makers, and when information itself is often limited and of dubious quality, then the dilemma facing the country as it tries to advance towards a "developed" state is obvious. The quality of spatial information in Pakistan is a good example of the "information constraint" facing the country. SPATIAL DATA SOURCES AND ITS QUALITY IN PAKISTAN GENERAL: The quality of geographic data in Pakistan is erratic. Physical data for some regions is reasonable, but in others is lacking. Statistics are still rudimentary, maintained by or for specific departments and usually are not correlated for general use. BASE MAPS: The Survey Group of Pakistan (SGP) is responsible for all base mapping for the whole country. Unfortunately all such maps at 1: 100 000 or 1:25 000 scale are out of date. The topography and a lot of other spatial information like roads, rivers, and place names, forestry and other land-uses etc. were generated from field surveys during colonial times. Periods of survey vary from 1906 to 1970. Attempting to edge match adjoining map sheets will often betray deficiencies in cartographic skills. Sometimes map sheet parameters are defined in yards and miles and while others in meters and kilometers. Only a spatial series has the national grid printed on it. AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY: SGP is also responsible for aerial photography but no up to date aerial photographs (AP) are not available. In Pakistan's North West Frontier Province for example, AP dates back to sixties and early seventies and their utility has diminished due to rapid and extensive changes in land use over the past thirty years. National security concerns constrain both access to the exiting AP and the opportunity for new aerial photography. SATELLITE IMAGERY: Commercially available satellite imagery provides a diverse and increasing range of facilities for improving resource and management. LandSat and SPOT cover all of Pakistan frequently. Fortunately this technology is available in Pakistan. Pakistan's Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) is well equipped with Remote Sensing Interpretation facilities and has also a small PC based GIS running PC ARC/INFO and ERDAS software. Other sophisticated hardware is available for data analysis. SUPARCO's technical expertise is involved in various studies and in training in the use of remote sensing technology. But SUPARCO's data procuring procedure, interpretation methods and the accuracy of its work need improvement. NEED FOR A SUSTAINABLE GIS For the problems which Pakistan is trying to overcome GIS can be valuable and long-lasting asset. Information can come from a wide range of sources. To put it to the most effective use, there is a need to integrate with the GIS data from many sources while maintaining the integrity of the data itself. Sustainable development of a GIS is however not an easy endeavor. "Where should we begin?" and "How should we proceed?" are questions that need particular attention. Clear priorities are needed, and action should be based on these priorities. Sustainable institutional development is needed in parallel with the development of the GIS. Our institutions must be able to carry out natural resources inventory with ground surveys; we need good data management systems. We even need better methods for maintaining proper land records which could be a vital component of a spatial information system. Instead, repeated subdivisions of private property as ownership passes from generation to generation and lack of clear settlement of ownership rights to common property have resulted in much litigation and uncertainty about such basic data as land ownership. District revenue offices need to upgrade land records and to open them to public inspection, a task for which a GIS would be a great asset. GIS CURRENT STATUS IN PAKISTAN Presenting information through maps is a centuries old technique; using computers to do it is recent. GIS softwares vary in their features from simple map production to complex overlaying and analysis. There are more than four hundred different programs for automated mapping; of which some seventy are full GISs. Costs vary from US $ 600 to US $ 30,000 and even more. Training needs vary from a few hours to several weeks intensive programs. Considering a country level database for Pakistan, involving a massive amount of data and its extensive processing, PC processing power is clearly inadequate so a workstation based GIS will be needed. The Government of Pakistan (GOP) is investing a considerable amount of developmental grants and foreign aid in establishing Geographic Information Systems and mapping facilities in various institutions. These systems are however established without any inter-institutional coordination and will thus result in highly incompatible hardware and software, duplication of data and inconsistencies of results. A considerable amount of foreign exchange is also lost in the process. Table 1 describes the current status of GIS in Pakistan.
PROPOSAL A CENTRALIZED GIS SETUP Maps are used for planning and development of natural resources, command and control systems of defense and civil security and for numerous other purposes. The responsibility for topographic mapping and aerial photography lies with the SGP. SGP is a civil organization which, for security reasons, is headed by a Surveyor General and works under the strict control of Army General Headquarters (GHQ). All departments which require topographic maps make their request to SGP and many are permanently registered with it for mapping and aerial photographs procurement. It is therefore proposed that a centralized, well-managed GIS platform be established in SGP with various sub-nodes at ministries and sub-sub-nodes at different departments and its own sub-offices at different locations. Diagram 1 is an example of the proposed tree type Network.
Availability of data in digital form is a prerequisite for a GIS, and nobody would disagree with the fact that developing a single layer of spatial data can take years using GIS/RS techniques specially in a country like Pakistan where the quality of base maps is rather questionable. New survey and conversion of existing archives of basic scale maps into digital form is therefore an essential requisite for establishing a nationwide GIS Many of the governmental organizations may claim to be the appropriate site for a centralized national GIS, but considering the following points, it would appear that the SGP should logically be allocated responsibility for this major undertaking. * All kinds of mapping and aerial photography archives are already available in SGP. * Surveying and cartographic facilities an administrative setup and staff already trained in some of the skills relevant to the task are already at the disposal of SGP. Hence new technology such as a Global Positioning System (GPS), GIS or RS can be added on to the existing institutional capacity. A satisfactory specification for the national archives of survey data exists. Thus coding, labeling and annotation procedures can be easily standardized and SGP can become an On-line Central GIS Data Bank. Possibly SGP and SUPARCO could share some of their expertise and facilities. Security procedures can be easily implemented because the SGP is under strict control of GHQ. SGP will be responsible for extending the comprehensive digital data to various organizations with in the country and abroad on request/payment. One of the major advantages of SGP as a base is that the employees of SGP are not transferable and once trained their expertise may be utilized permanently in future. This is a welcome contrast to the situation prevailing in many other government sector institutions where frequent staff turnover hampers introduction of new technology - especially the kind that requires extensive training - both "on the job" and formal courses. RECOMMENDATIONS: * SGP and other major users of SGP maps and spatial information (SI) should collaborate with each other in the establishment of a sustainable GIS at SGP. * SGP should convince basic scale digital mapping users to guide and help the development of an accelerated digital mapping program with a future GIS data bank. * SGP should develop specifications for quality control, cost, funding arrangements and timetables, for creating both basic scale digital mapping and upgrade requirements. * SGP should develop a better update service for digital mapping. * A program should be initiated for establishing a clear understanding of GIS in the top management of Defense Ministry and SGP. * Training in the modern surveying techniques and equipment should be arranged before starting any further surveying for digital mapping * SGP should establish standard some procedures for recording topographic information in consultation with other federal and provincial departments and * SGP should provide incentives to such institutions for cooperating in these issues. The ability to achieve truly integrated GIS depends on establishing the appropriate information network. A Tree type network methodology should be adopted by the SGP, SUPARCO and other federal and provincial government departments. Information should be shared between the central nodes and sub-nodes at various locations all over the country. Departments should be able to make a formal request through sub- nodes at their premises or at their head offices after consulting up to date on-line dictionary provided by the central nodes. Each department can have its own small scale on-site GIS facility for overlaying, updating, and analyzing spatial databases according to departmental needs. This will certainly reduce the duplication of common data and lessen the training and maintenance needs of the departmental GIS sub-node. CONCLUDING REMARKS: In conclusion I would suggest that GOP should take some new initiatives and measurements for establishing GIS and up to date mapping facilities at SGP. SGP has to come out of its exclusive possession strategies and must liaise with academic institutes as part of its program of research and development for inter- institutional coordination, command and control, planning, development and most important digital terrain model (DTM). Otherwise in the absence of reliable spatial information sustainable and successful implementation of PNCS should not be expected. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: I am thankful to Mr. G A Neville: Chief Technical Advisor Forest Management Center Peshawar and Dr. Syed Hamidullah: Associate Professor of Environmental Geology at the National Center of Excellence in Geology Peshawar University. for their critical reading and editing of the paper. I am also extremely grateful to the Mr. Thomas Wernly, Ambassador of Switzerland in Pakistan for the financial assistance to attend Esri's user conference and Mr. Naveed Zaheer Mirza from Pakistan Resource Development Services for complimentary registration. REFERENCES: 1. IUCN and GOP. The Pakistan National Conservation Strategy (PNCS). April 1992. IUCN Karachi Pakistan. 2. Schmid, Peter. Use of GIS and RS in the Forest Management Center of NWFP Pakistan. July 1994. Peshawar Pakistan. 3. Lord Chorley. Handling Geographic Information: Report to the secretary of state for the Environment of the Committee of Inquiry into the Handling of GI. Second Impression 1988. London: Her Majesty's Stationary Office UK. 4. Seppe Cassetari. Introduction to Integrated Geo-Information Management. First edition 1993. London UK:Chapman & Hall. 5. G.A.Neville. A GIS & RS in the Forest Management Center: A Discussion Paper. June, 1994. Peshawar Pakistan. 6. IUCN and GOP. Sarhad Provincial Conservation Strategy (SPCS):Inception Report. October 1993. IUCN - SPCS Unit Peshawar Pakistan. 7. Stan Aronoff. Geographic Information Systems: A Management Perspective. Ottawa, Canada:WDL Publications. 8. Fazle Karim Khan. A Geography of Pakistan: Environment People and Economy. Karachi Pakistan: Oxford University Press. 9. P.A.Burrough. Principles of Geographic Information Systems for Land Resources Assessment. First Publication 1986, Last reprint with corrections 1994. USA: Oxford University Press.
Current Activities:
My work as GIS Consultant in FMC is to support and assist for a
sustainable development of a Geographic Information System.
This includes training, maintenance and promoting a better
appreciation of GIS technology in NWFP and Pakistan by
providing GIS demonstrations, presentations and by writing about
GIS.
Previous Experience:
I have a six year experience of developing Geographic Informatio
System at different reputable organizations. My experience
includes working with USAID (Afghanistan), UN, Pakistan Army
and different Government and other Non-government offices.