GANGTOK,: Sikkim celebrated the ‘National Space Day 2024’ on Saturday here at the State Project Monitoring Unit (SPMU), Water Resources department in a programme organised by National Hydrology Project, SPMU, Water Resources department, funded by the Jal Shakti ministry.
Addressing the gathering, Water Resources minister Sonam Lama said the programme is to commemorate India’s successful Chandrayaan III Mission moon landing which took place on August 23, 2023. He congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ISRO scientists for making India proud through the moon landing, making India the fourth nation in the world to achieve this space feat.
“We also thank the Jal Shakti ministry and National Hydrology Project for selecting Sikkim as those 11 States who are celebrating the National Space Day. Sikkim is flourishing in almost all sectors under the dynamic leadership of Chief Minister PS Golay and such opportunities are being extended to Sikkim due to his commendable work,” said the minister.
Lama added that today’s celebration would encourage Sikkim students towards space and technology studies. Students of colleges and schools are taking part in today’s celebration and they will gain knowledge on space and technology, he said, assuring to hold such events in a larger manner involving maximum students if given a similar opportunity in future.
In his address, Water Resources PCE-cum-secretary LD Lamtha thanked the Union government for selecting Sikkim among the 11 implementing agencies of the nation focusing on space technology application in the water sector.
“As one of the implementing agencies under National Hydrology Project, we are here to celebrate the National Space Day for the successful launching and landing of the Chandrayaan III on the moon surface south pole on August 23, 2023. India is the fourth country to achieve this historic space,” said Lamtha.
He informed that National Hydrology Project (NHP) under the Water Resources department was set up in 2016 with the main aim to improve the extent, quality and accessibility of water resources information and to strengthen the capacity of the targeted management institution in India.
The NHP Sikkim has installed telemetry stations for real time data acquisition systems like the Automatic Weather Station (AWS) and Automatic Water Level Recorder (AWLR) at various locations of the State. The telemetry station is linked to satellites which relays the information to the ground station and forwarded to the mission control.
Lamtha informed that the NHP Sikkim has completed installation of five AWS and 13 AWLRs, out of which, three were washed away during the October 2023 flash flood.
The Water Resources PCE-cum-secretary shared that the Chief Minister had immediately visited the flash flood-hit areas and had directed the concerned departments to swiftly prepare DPRs for restoration and rehabilitation works. The DPRs submitted to the Centre are under active stage for consideration, he said.
Lamtha informed that the Jal Shakti ministry has constituted a committee to study the morphology of Teesta river and a joint field inspection by the committee and Water Resources department was conducted a month ago.
As part of the National Space Day celebration, the Water Resources department had held painting, essay writing and elocution competitions on August 16 for the college and school students.
The top three winners in each category were awarded during the programme today.
In the second half of the programme, resource persons from CGWB, NRSC, ISRO, Science and Technology department, NIH-NERC Guwahati, Survey of India, Central Water Commission, and Forest department presented talks on subjects like application of space technology in ground water management, geospatial inputs for water resources related applications, use of space technology for monitoring and mitigation of GLOF, leveraging space technology to address hydrological challenges and their practical application, application of CORS and talk on National Geospatial policy - 2024 and application of space technology in surface water management.