Change detection analysis of catchment area of Tighra Reservoir, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India using IRS P6 LISS III satellite images

The present study analyzed the land use/land cover changes of catchments’ area of Tighra reservoir using IRS P6 LISS III of 2006, 2007 and 2008 with digital image processing and GIS techniques. The landuse/ landcover were broadly classified into 7 classes as water bodies, deciduous forest, open scrub, agricultural plantation, mixed barren land, Built-up and fallow land. Change analysis of landuse/landcover of the catchment area shows that from 2006-2008, agricultural land and built-up were observed to increase to about 3.35% and 5.19% approximately. Fallow land and mixed barren were also observed to increase by about 2.86% and 2.7% respectively. However, deciduous forest, water bodies and open scrub were noticed to decrease in area to about 10.83%, 2.14% and 1.23% respectively. The vast changes are due to unplanned urbanization and encroachment of land for agriculture, besides sedimentation of the reservoir. Therefore it is suggested here that local people should be properly educated and frequent monitoring should be conducted.