Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, January 29

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) today released books on Geographical Information System (GIS) application in Nepal.

Dr Shankar Sharma, NPC vice-chairman, launched the books titled Mapping Nepal Census Indicators 2003 and Trends and Districts of Nepal-Indicators of Development Update 2003. The books are the result of a joint efforts of ICIMOD and CBS with the support of SNV-Nepal. Sharma also released another book titled GIS for Municipal Planning — A Case Study from Kirtipur Municipality.

The data from the book are also available in a multi-media CD-ROMs. Jan De Witte, country representative of SNV-Nepal, said that "orientation programmes should be held at the local level since reports alone are not enough" in order to achieve the target. However, he said that reports are important tool for planning and policy making process.