Govt in touch with Google Earth over high security area maps

New Delhi, Mar 9: The Government today (Mar 9, 2006) said it has taken up with Google Earth the issue of the country's high security reas and installations being mapped by the agency's satellites and their pictures put on its internet site.

''Defence Ministry and the Ministry of Science and Technology are in touch with the agency over the issue,'' Minister of State in the PMO Prithviraj Chauhan told the Rajya Sabha while replying to supplementaries.

When asked whether the government was doing something to ban organisations that were taking high resolution pictures of the country's secured areas, he said the question should be addressed to the Defence Ministry.

Earlier, the Minister, in reply to the main question, said India ranked among the top few countries to have effectively utilised advanced space technologies such as satellite, remote sensing and communication in various social and developmental applications.

These technologies were being used in areas like natural resources, environment and disaster management, telemedicine, tele-education and healthcare.

He, however, said it was not possible to predict disasters like tsunamis with the help of existing technolgies, though they have helped in the management of lanslides and flood control.

UNI