Satellite mapping of land use land cover (LULC) changes and NDVI in the Subansiri river basin of eastern Himalayas and the Alaknanda river basin of western Himalayas: A comparative study based on spatial analysis
This study attempts to analyse and interpret the land use and land cover changes in two Himalayan river basins viz. the Subansiri and the Alaknanda of eastern and western Himalayas respectively using Remote Sensing and GIS technologies with the help of LANDSAT imageries and standard procedures. It is found from the study that the vegetation cover had declined by 1.81% and barren land by 3.82% in 14 years in case of the Subansiri basin, while in case of the Alaknanda basin, the corresponding values work out to be 4.24% and 3.54% in 13 years. The reason for the decline of the forest cover and barren land may be due to the increasing agricultural practices, population pressure and construction activities in the basins. There are positive changes in agricultural lands by 6.39% and 6.40% in the Subansiri and the Alaknanda basin respectively to fulfil the needs of rising population and their livelihood. The NDVI shows high vegetation indices in both the basins (0.97 in Subansiri and 0.91in Alaknanda). From the study, anthropogenic activities are found to be comparatively more pronounced in the Alaknanda basin as compared to the Subansiri basin.