PESHAWAR: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics has marked important locations including boundaries of villages, mouza and blocks of the households in five merged districts of the erstwhile Fata on Google Maps.

Officials said that Google mapping of the five districts -- Bajaur, Khyber, Mohmand, Kurram and Orakzai -- had been completed and the exercise was also in progress in North Waziristan and South Waziristan.

The web mapping service will offer satellite imageries, photography, village boundaries, mouza, blocks of households and other important locations in these districts. The bureau of statistics had launched Google mapping of tribal districts early this year and the exercise would be completed next year.

The bureau for the first time identified locations in tribal districts on the Google Maps. Locations including village boundaries, households and mouza in settled districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were marked on the Google Maps in 2015. The tribal area was merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in May 2018.

An official told Dawn that locations marked on the map in the tribal districts would be provided to Election Commission of Pakistan and National Database and Registration Authority. He said that marked data on the map would help ECP in new delimitation of councils.

Under the new arrangements, the size of the block has been reduced from 500 households to 300 households in the tribal districts. Officials said that locations in some pockets in five merged districts particularly Khyber could not be marked on the Google Maps due to unknown reasons.

Sources said that PBS had also started labour force survey 2020-21 in the tribal districts. During survey, the bureau would collect data of employed, unemployed, self-employed and people seeking employment.

They said that survey in several districts of the province including tribal districts was in progress and the process would be completed in June 2021. In addition, Pakistan Demographic Survey is being launched next month. Population growth rate would be determined through the survey in the country.

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2020