Chandigarh University Collaborates with Punjab Remote Sensing Centre for Resource Management & Disaster Mitigation

Chandigarh University, Gharuan has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Punjab Government's premier enterprise, the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC) Ludhiana, to strengthen research and academic collaboration for the application of Remote Sensing and Geospatial Technology.

With this tactical collaboration, Chandigarh University and PRSC hope to share knowledge, faculty, and resources to advance geoinformatics and remote sensing, with a focus on advanced geospatial tools and techniques.

The MoU was signed in the presence of senior members of CU and senior scientists from PRSC by Prof (Dr) Anand Agarwal, Vice-Chancellor, Chandigarh University, and Dr Brijendra Pateriya, Director, PRSC, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) campus, Ludhiana.

A Centre of Excellence for Geoinformatics and Remote Sensing was also established in the Department of Civil Engineering at Chandigarh University, with the goal of encouraging various initiatives, including government missions that play critical roles in implementing and monitoring the schemes via satellite data and other sensor uses.

Prof (Dr) Anand Agarwal stated that through this collaboration, both institutions would pool their energies, expertise, and resources to focus on advanced geospatial tools and techniques for utility surveys and resource management, among other things.

Aside from that, quality training in the field of research and development will be provided to students through seminars, workshops, conferences, exhibitions, and research publications, among other things, and faculty development programmes will be held at both institutions, he added.

Dr. Agarwal also stated that PRSC and Chandigarh University will offer a joint Master of Engineering (ME) programme in Remote Sensing and Geo-Informatics in the near future.

"This agreement will enable researchers from both institutions to collaborate on joint research projects, exchange research materials, publish research papers in international and Indian scientific journals, and assist with book publishing." Likewise, faculty exchanges will take place in order to improve research quality," he added.

Following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, both organizations discussed the importance of developing techniques to mitigate natural disasters in the Himalayan region.

Dr. Brijendra Pateriya, Director, PRSC, Ludhiana, stated on the occasion that this collaboration will strengthen the better utilization of resources to serve the society by using geospatial infrastructure primarily to assist our farmers, for disaster mitigation and management, utility surveys, water and land resource management, urban and rural development, including Landslide Hazard Zonation (LHZ), and allied aspects based on expertise and resource availability in the region.