The Department of Soil and Water, Government of Maharashtra on March 12, 2025, issued the guidelines for conducting on-site verification (Ground Truthing) of soil conservation and water conservation works carried out under various schemes in the state in the past years.
The following has been stated namely: -
• It states that the government has initiated a project to consolidate and verify soil and water conservation works conducted by various departments, including Agriculture, Water Conservation, Forest, Rural Development, and NGOs.
• This initiative aims to map, verify, and update the status of existing conservation structures across villages, ensuring their effectiveness and identifying necessary interventions like repairs, new structures, or desilting.
• It states that a ground truth verification process will be carried out with the support of local government bodies and villagers. A mobile app has been developed for officials to log data on-site, integrating satellite-based geofenced information. Designated officers will be assigned login access for data collection and validation.
• It further states that the project includes training for team leaders, field verification of soil and water conservation structures with local coordination, systematic mobile app-based data collection, and validation through ground truthing, ensuring accurate mapping and necessary interventions.
Detailed notification is attached below.
[Notification no. - JSIA-2025/P.No.12/JAL-7]
