policy induced land use/land cover change: a case study … induced land use/land cover change: a...

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEOMATICS AND GEOSCIENCES

Volume 5, No 2, 2014

© Copyright by the authors - Licensee IPA- Under Creative Commons license 3.0

Research article ISSN 0976 – 4380

Submitted on August 2014 published on November 2014 275

Policy induced land use/land cover change: a case study of industrial

development at Jharli and its surroundings in Haryana (India) Salesh Kalkal1, Parmod Bhardwaj2

1-Assistant Professor in Geography, Pt. NRS Govt. College, Rohtak (Haryana)

2-Professor, Department of Geography, M. D. University, Rohtak (Haryana).

[email protected]

ABSTRACT

In the last half decade, rapid urbanization and industrialization have significantly changed the

land use/land cover pattern in rural areas, particularly in nearby areas of National Capital

Region (NCR) of Delhi. Jharli and its surroundings have also witnessed land acquisition and

subsequent rapid industrialization in recent past i.e. from 2004-05 onwards. One such

example of planned industries has been the location of Super Thermal Power Plants and

allied industries for generation of electricity in Jharli and nearby villages in 2006. This land

acquisition and subsequent industrialization has directly affected the land use/land cover in

six villages namely Jharli, Mohanbari, Goria, Khanpur Khurd, Khanpur Kalan and Wajitpur

Tappa Birhor. Present study is based on comparison of land use/land cover of 2004-05 and

2011-12 in these villages. Four major LULC categories like built-up (including industrial,

commercial and settlement), agricultural land, water bodies and forest land have been

delineated, mapped and compared. It is found that area under agriculture, forest and water

bodies has decreased by 28.27, 1.38 and 0.021 percent respectively whereas built up has

increased by 29.68 percent. This change further accentuates the problem of shrinking

productive agricultural land in NCR of Delhi.

Keywords: Geospatial technology, land acquisition and industrialization, land use/land cover

change.

1. Introduction

Land use/land cover change is a major issue in the course of the regional development in the

Metropolitan shadow, in India. National Capital Region (hereinafter referred to as NCR) of

Delhi in India has gained economic importance and attracts domestic as well as foreign

investment. NCR is the region where the forces of globalization and localization intersect.

The cities and regions of NCR have been developing rapidly after the formation of National

Capital Region Planning Board in 1985. The main target of this board is to provide balanced

development in the region. The anticipation of services and opportunities in this region fuels

rapid growth. Industrialization plays a vital role in the overall development and progress of

any region. Sometimes it has an adverse impact on environment like change in land use/land

cover and socio-economic conditions. When the industries increase in the peripheral part of

the NCR, haphazard land use is taking its toll on the natural resources at an alarming pace. In

order to cope with the pressure of population, every bit of available land has been brought

under various types of uses, which put high pressure on the land (Joshi and Nagare, 2009). In

the last few decades, reclamation of land for the purpose of industrialization and urbanization

has become a common trend in this part of India. Similarly 3731.acres of land has been

acquired in study area by state government during 2006 - 2009 for the establishment of power

plants, cement and other industries. Besides planned land use/land cover change, many other

unplanned changes do occur in this process. Many a times, the planning objectives are failed

Policy induced land use/land cover change: a case study of industrial development at Jharli and its

surroundings in Haryana (India)

Salesh Kalkal and Parmod Bhardwaj

International Journal of Geomatics and Geosciences

Volume 5 Issue 2, 2014 276

due to this unprecedented haphazard growth (Jitendrudu, 2006). Accurate and timely

information on these changes are significant for any development. This information helps

planners to forecast need of land and other resources for future development plans and their

implementation. Similarly for evaluation of existing scheme and future planned development,

we need accurate and real time information on this change taking place in land use/land cover

both over space and time. Present study investigates such a case of land use/land cover

change induced by planned industrialization in Jharli and its surroundings using geospatial

technology.

2. Study area: An introduction

The study area is located at 92 kms to the west of New Delhi, national capital of India within

co-ordinates of latitudes 28° 25’ 30”N and 28° 30’ 40” N and longitudes 76° 19’ 10” E and

76° 24’ 10” E. Although this region has been industrially backward but conditions like less

productive agricultural land, availability of good transport facilities, cheap labour and helpful

government policies are the basic facilitating factors for land acquisition and establishment of

industries in this region. Now this region has been developing as a small industrial hub of

Haryana for last eight years. To generate electricity, government signed a deal with National

Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). For this purpose, state government acquired 3731 acres

of agricultural and forest land in the Jharli and its surrounding villages namely Jharli,

Mohanbari, Goria, Khanpur Khurd, Khanpur Kalan and Wajitpur Tappa Birhor. The

government established the Indira Gandhi Super Thermal Power Plant (IGSTPP) in 2006

with the help of NTPC. In 2007, the government made another deal for the establishment of

Mahatma Gandhi Super Thermal Power Plant (MGSTPP) near the IGSTPP. After some time,

J.K. Laksmi Cement Company Pvt. Ltd. was also established. Besides this other economic

activities have also taken place in the study area.

Figure 1: Study area






3. Objectives of the study

To assess the temporal and spatial changes in land use/land cover due to acquisition of land

and establishment of large scale super thermal power plant projects and allied industries in

the study area from 2004-05 to 2011-12 using geospatial technologies.

3.1 Data source, software’s and methodology

For studying the temporal and spatial changes in land use and land cover, two types of the

data have been used. The satellite data used in the study is GeoEye 1 images of 2011-12

(http://earth.google.com). Other spatial data includes topographic sheet no. H43 W6 and H43

W7 at the scale of 1:50000 published by Survey of India, Dehradun, Village Boundary Map

of Jharli and its surroundings at the scale of 1:20000 published by Department of Town and

Country Planning, Government of Haryana. ERDAS 9.0 software has been used for the

Geocoding and Georeferencing of the Toposheets and Village Boundary Maps. ArcGIS 9.3

software has been used to compliment the processing and display of the data. Microsoft word

has been used basically for the presentation of the research and Microsoft Excel has been

used in producing the statistical diagrams. Ground truthing of land use/land cover has been

done using GPS instrument ‘Garmin Oregon 550 T’.

4. Results and discussion

The study area is spread over 48686324 m². In 2004-05, it is dominated by the agricultural

land that covers its 45604110 m² area having 93.66 percent share. Other categories like forest

land, rural built-up and water bodies have 1643861 m² (3.37 percent), 1345739 m² (2.76

percent) and 92614 m² (0.19 percent) respectively of the study area (Map 2). In 2011-12, area

of agricultural land is still higher than others and spread over 315952980 m² area having a

share of 65.39 percent. Rural built-up occupied over 15794447 m² area having a share of

32.44 percent. Other land use/land cover like forest land and water bodies cover 970582 m²

(1.99 percent) and 82315 m² (0.16 percent) area respectively (Map 3 and Table 1).

Table 1: Land use/land cover statistics of study area

Land use/land

Cover Categories

2004-05 2011-12 (2004-05) – (2011-12)

Area (m²) Area (%) Area (m²) Area (%) Change Area

(m²)

Change

(%)

Agricultural Land 45604110 93.67 31838980 65.40 -13765130 -28.27

Forest Land 1643861 3.38 970582 1.99 -673279 -1.38

Water Bodies 92614 0.19 82315 0.17 -10299 -0.02

Built-up Area 1345739 2.76 15794447 32.44 +14448708 +29.68

Total 48686324 100 48686324 100

Source: Statistics derived by the authors from concerned Toposheets and GeoEye 1 images

It is evident from Table 1 that there is considerable decrease in the area under agricultural

land, forests and water bodies from 2004-05 to 2011-12. Area under rural built-up categories

such as settlement, industrial and commercial land is increasing. It shows that the industrial

pressure is causing a decline in area under agriculture, forest and water bodies. Figure 4

shows that area under agricultural land has recorded large decline. Agricultural land has

recorded a decrease of 13765130 m² amounting to 28.27 percent during 2004-05 to 2011-12.






It has been converted in rural built-up i.e. industries, commercial land and settlement with

13113868 m², 175294 m² and 475968 m² area respectively.

Figure 2: Jharli and its surroundings land use land cover 2004-2005

Source: Based on Toposheets of 2004-05

Figure 3: Jharli and its surroundings land use/land cover 2011-2012

Source: Based on GeoEye 1 images






Figure 4: Showing temporal change in land use/land cover

On the other hand, rural built-up has recorded high positive change. It has recorded an

increase of 14448708 m² area amounting to 29.67 percent. It has consumed 13765130 m²,

673279 m² and 10299 m² area of agricultural land, forest land and water bodies respectively.

Besides, area under other categories i.e. forests and water bodies has also decreased. Forest

land has decreased by an area of 673279 m² (-1.38 percent) due to industrial growth on this

land. Water bodies have decreased by an area of 10299 m² (-0.02 percent). This part of area

has also been converted into industrial land use (Table 2).

Table 2: Conversion of land use/land cover 2004-2012

Land use/land cover category Converted into Area (in m²)

Agricultural Land Industrial 13113867

Agricultural Land Commercial 137676

Agricultural Land Settlement 513587

Agricultural Land Water Logged Land 270710

Forest Industrial 673279

Water body Industrial 10299

Settlement Commercial 37618

Source: Statistics derived by the authors from Figure 5

4.1 Rural built-up

The rural built-up category includes non-agricultural activities such as settlement, industrial

and commercial area. Area under rural built-up was 1345739 m² (2.76 percent of study area)

in 2004-05. In this category settlement occupied all area. There was no area under industrial

and commercial use at that time i.e. 2004-05 (Table 3).

In 2011-12, area under built-up increased to 15794447 m² which is 32.44 percent of study

area. Two new categories industrial and commercial have come up during this period.

Industrial area has become dominant land use and it covers 13797446 m² which is 28.34

percent of study area. Settlement has 1865269 m² area which is 3.74 percent of study area and

it has increased by 475968 m² area. Commercial area is smallest among these three categories

and it has 131732 m² area (0.36 percent).






Figure 5: Jharli and its surroundings land use/land cover 2011-2012

Source: Based on Toposheets of 2004-05 and GeoEye 1 images of 2011-12

Table 3: Rural Built-up

Land use/land

Cover Categories

2004-05 2011-12 (2004-05)–(2011-12)

Area

(m²)

Area

(%)

Area

(m²)

Area

(%)

Change Area

(m²)

Change

(%)

Settlement 1345739 2.76 1821707 3.74 +475968 0.98

Industrial Area -Nil- -Nil- 13797446 28.34 +13797446 28.34

Commercial Area -Nil- -Nil- 175294 0.36 +175294 0.36

Total 1345739 2.76 15794447 32.44 +14448708 29.68

Source: Statistics derived by the authors from Figure 2 and Figure 3.

4.1.1 Settlement

Settlement is one of the major land use activity in the study area which occupies an area of

1345739 m² and it was 2.76 percent of the study area in 2004-05. There was no planned

settlement in the whole study area. These areas are unplanned with less spacing for open

areas and roads. In 2011-12, settlements cover a total area of 1821707 m² (3.74 percent).

From 2004-05 to 2011-12, the settlement area has increased 0.98 percent with 475968 m²

area.






4.1.2 Industrial area

In 2004-05, there was not a single unit of land use in the form of industrial land. In 2011-12,

such industrial lands are found in the eastern, central, western and south western part of the

study area. Area under industrial category is 13797446 m² in 2011-12. It is 28.34 per cent of

total study area and 87.37 per cent of total built-up area. Industrial land use has expanded on

agricultural land, forest land and water bodies. It has consumed 13113868 m², 673279 m² and

10299 m² area of agricultural land, forest land and water bodies respectively (Table 2.3). This

is a sign that study area is becoming a hub of industrial growth.

4.1.3 Commercial area

Jharli and its surrounding regions are rising as a hub of industrial growth as well as

commercial growth. Commercial land use is area used predominantly for the sale/purchase of

products and services. They often develop with public and semi public or along the main

roads/streets. Commercial category includes land under hotels, dhabas, medical stores, other

shops etc. In 2004-05, there was not a single unit of land use in the form of commercial land

use. But in 2011-12, such commercial land use has emerged in the northern and southern part

of the study area. This time, the total share of this type of land in the study area is 175294 m².

It is 0.36 per cent of study area and 13.03 per cent of total built-up area in 2011-12. There are

only two villages Jharli and Khanpur Khurd in which commercial land use has developed. In

Jharli it is 131732 m² and in Khanpur Khurd it is 43562 m². Other villages e.g., Mohanbari,

Goria, Khanpur Kalan and Wajitpur Tappa Birhor have no area under commercial land use.

This land use has mainly emerged on agricultural land.

4.2 Agricultural area

It is the land that consists of crops and all types of land capable of doing agriculture, either

presently cultivated or fallow land. Waterlogged agricultural land has also been included in

this category. The agricultural land is located in all six villages. In 2004-05, the agricultural

land in the study area was 45604110 m² contributing 93.66 per cent of total area. In the year

2011-12, the agricultural land in the study area was 31838980 m² and occupied 65.40 percent

of total area. So agricultural land has decreased by 13765130 m² area recording a decline of

28.27 percent. Agricultural land has decreased in all villages. Agricultural land has been

converted mainly into industrial land use followed by settlement, commercial and water

logged area (Table 2). This loss of agricultural land is having impact on occupational

composition and other socio-economic attributes of population of study area which

necessitates further investigation.

In 2004-05, the ground water was at the depth of 30 to 40 feet so there was no water logged

agricultural land in whole study area. But after the establishment of thermal power plants,

many large water tanks were made in these plants. Due to sinking of water from tanks a large

part of agricultural land has become waterlogged. Such type of land is increasing

continuously since 2010.

4.3 Forest area

Forest is a biological unit having a vast social organization of living communities at work.

These forest communities have a vital role in maintaining an eco-system. In 2004-05, the

forest cover has a total area of 1643861m² which is 3.38 per cent of study area. In 2011-12,






the forest cover has a total area of 970582 m² which is 1.99 percent of study area. So it was

reduced to 970582 m² and recorded a decline of 673279 m². Forest land has decreased

because of land acquired for industrial zones. It becomes more important because already

there is serious shortage of forest in this region.

4.4 Water bodies

The water bodies include both natural and man-made water features namely lakes, ponds,

tanks and reservoirs. In 2004-05, the total area under water bodies was 92614 m² which was

0.19 percent of study area. In 2011-12, the water bodies cover a total area of 82315 m² which

is 0.17 percent of total study area. So during this period it decreased to 82315 m² recording a

10299 m². Water bodies decreased due to the industrialization process in the study area.

5. Conclusion and suggestions

Planned land acquisition and subsequent industrialization is putting tremendous pressure on

agricultural land use of study area. Present study finds that major change due to

industrialization has occurred in agricultural land. This issue becomes more important

because land acquisition and industrialization on agricultural land has been an issue of

political debate and unrest in national capital region and other parts in India. It not only

involves loss of agricultural land but also depleting the scarce vegetation cover in the region.

It further involves the issue of proper rehabilitation of people affected by land acquisition and

subsequent industrialization.

It has been found that share of agricultural land in study area has decreased from 93.67

percent (2004-05) to 65.40 percent (2011-12).The second important loss has been recorded in

forest cover. It has decreased from 3.38 percent (2004-05) to 1.99 percent (2011-12).Though

the decrease is small but it becomes serious because the region has very scarce vegetation and

any further decrease may have serious ecological consequences. So quick afforestation drive

should be taken up immediately. Another important issue is water logging of agricultural area

in vicinity of thermal plants. Strict measures should be taken up to stop the seepage of water

from water tanks of the plants.

Geospatial technologies have proved very useful in detecting change in land use/land cover

and generation of accurate and real time information of study area. Frequent mapping of land

use/ land cover must be done using these technologies for proper evaluation and

implementation of development plans.

6. References

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Thivya, C, (2011), A study on the land use pattern change along the coastal region of

Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, International Journal of Geomatics and Geosciences, 1(4),

pp 700-720.

2. Bhagawat, R., (2011), Application of Remote Sensing and GIS, Land Use/Land Cover

Change in Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Nepal, Journal of Theoretical and Applied

Information Technology, pp 80-86.






3. Kaliraj, S., and Malar, V. K., (2012), Geospatial analysis to assess the potential site

for coal based thermal power station in Gujarat, India, Advances in Applied Science

Research, 3(3), pp 1554-1562.

4. Jitendrudu, L.R.B., (2006), Modeling Dynamics of Urban Spatial Growth Using

Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System, M. Tech Thesis, IIRS,

Dehradun.

5. Joshi, Veena U.,and Vikas Nagare, (2009), Land Use Change Detection along the

Pravara River Basin in Maharashtra, Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques,

AGD Landscape and Environment, 3(2), pp 71-86.

6. Prakasam, C., (2010), Land use and land cover change detection through remote

sensing approach: A case study of Kodaikanal Taluk, Tamil nadu, International

Journal of Geomatics and Geosciences, 1(2), pp 150-158.

7. Ramachandra, T. V.,and Bharath H. Aithal, (2012), Land Use Dynamics at Padubidri,

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International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering, 5(03), pp 409-417.

policy induced land use/land cover change: a case study … induced land use/land cover change: a...

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