Why drones are surveying Indian villages

One day in July 2022, a group of children in Shikarpur, a village in Delhi, ran towards Gulshan Tyagi. “Are we under an attack, uncle?” they asked playfully, explaining that they had seen a drone flying over their village. Tyagi, a resident of the village, ignored them.

It was only two years later, when he saw a public notice on a wall of the village temple, that Tyagi realised what the drones had been used for.

The notice explained that as part of the implementation of the Svamitva scheme in the district of South-West Delhi, a map of Shikarpur had been created based on a drone survey, and that a list of properties in the village had been prepared. It stated that the map was displayed at the temple and in the chaupal, or village square. Further, it said, before the map and the list were finalised, “the village is invited to submit their claims and objections, if any, within 15 days of this notice”.

That was the first time Tyagi and others had heard about Svamitva.

The scheme’s name is an abbreviation of Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas. It was launched by the central government in April 2020 with the aim...

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