LAND USE/LAND COVER PATTERNS IN AND AROUND KOLLERU LAKE, ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA USING REMOTE SENSING AND GIS TECHNIQUES

LAND USE/LAND COVER PATTERNS IN AND AROUND KOLLERU LAKE, ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA USING REMOTE SENSING AND GIS TECHNIQUES Harikrishna Karanam 1, Appala Raju Nadipena 2, Venkateswara Rao Velaga 1, Jaisankar Gummapu 1, Amminedu Edara 1 Department of Geo-Engineering, A.U.College of Engineering, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India-530003 2Department of Geography, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam-530003 harigis2007@gmail.com; vrvelagala@yahoo.com Abstract The land use /land cover dynamics of the Kolleru Lake in and around of Andhra Pradesh have been characterized and evaluated using Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS). Visual interpretation techniques have been followed to determine to aerial extent and distribution of Level-I and Level-II Land Use/ Land Cover categories. The land use /land cover types as identified are Rural and Urban Built up land, Agricultural Land, Aquaculture, Water bodies, Forest and Waste lands Maximum area (60.72% of total geographical Area of the Study area) is covered by Agricultural land followed by Aquaculture (27.91% of TGA), Water bodies (5.84%of TGA), Waste lands (1.05% of TGA), while Forest Land covers only 0.84 percent of TGA as compare to 33 percent recommended by National Forest Policy for environmental protection. Key Words: Land Use, Land Cover, Remote sensing, GIS, Agricultural land, Aquaculture and Water bodies Introduction Land use is referred to Man s activities and the various uses which are carried on land. Land cover is referred to Natural Vegetation, Water bodies, Rock/Soil, artificial cover and other noticed on the land (NRSA 1995). Remote Sensing is the process of Sensing, identification, delineation, measurement of surface features and their process from a distance without directly coming into physical contact. Remote Sensing techniques have been successful in carrying out land use/ land cover mapping. The present study is an attempt to analyses the land use/ land cover categories of Kolleru Lake in and around. Numbers of research papers were published relating to land use and land cover analysis. Alaguraja, P. Durairaju, S et al. (2010) have analyzed Land use/ Land Cover categories i.e. crop land, dense forest, fallow land, barren rocky land, land with or without scrub, plantations and water bodies of Madurai district in Tamilanadu using satellite data. Chaurasia et al (1995) studied the agricultural land use change in Bathinda Dt., Punjab through Remote Sensing Techniques. Minakshi. P.K, and Sharma Virat Devasar, (2004) have studied systematically Land use/ cover categories i.e. built up land, agricultural land, forest, waste land, water bodies and mining and brick kilns of Fatehgarh Sahib District Punjab. Shah G.L and Archana. K Roy, (2006) have analysed techniques of supervised classification in Land Cover/Land Use Mapping: A Case of Rishikesh, Uttarakhand. Land Use/Land Cover classes of Pilibhit District in Uttar Pradesh were studied by Nayak.S and Behera MD (2008). Veena U. Joshi and Vikas Nagare, (2010) has systematically analysed Land-Use/Land-Cover classes in Paravara River Basin. Land is one of the critical natural resource on which most developmental activities (Jitendra Kumar, 2011). Land use/ land cover perspective of Oussudu Lake and its catchments would be an appropriate method of inquiry to understand the environmental status of Oussudu Lake (NarayanaKumar and KumarSwamy, 2006). The susceptibility of the Wular Catchment to degradation is high which is highlighted by the rapid increase of barren land (Kantha and Zahoor ul Hassan, 2010). Kolleru Lake is the largest freshwater lake and is located in Andhra Pradesh. Kolleru is located between Krishna and Godavari delta and covers an area of 248 km². The lake serves as a natural flood-balancing reservoir for these two rivers. The lake is fed directly by water from the seasonal Budameru and Tammileru streams, and is connected to the Krishna and Godavari systems by over 68 inflowing drains and channels. It serves as a habitat for migratory birds. It supports the livelihood of fishermen and riparian population in the area. Land use is obviously constrained by environmental factors such as soil characteristics climate, topography and vegetation. But it also reflects the importance of land as a key and finite resource for most human activities including Agriculture, Aquaculture, settlement, recreation and water bodies and storage. Land is fundamental factor of production and through ISSN No: 2319-3484 Volume 2, Issue 2, March 2013 1

much of the course of economic growth. Often improper land use is causing various forms of environmental degradation. For sustainable utilization of the land ecosystem, it is essential to know the natural characteristics, extent and location. Its quality, productivity, suitability and limitations of various land uses. Land use changes take place according to the needs of mankind, misuse and over exploitation of land. Increasing pressure of population and consequent rising demand for food and shelter are putting great pressure on water body areas, fallow land and other vacant lands. Many of the peoples have last substantial portions of their water cover due to conversion of water body areas into Aquaculture land in order to feed the growing population. Land use/cover arrangement makes landscape patterns. Today Earth resources satellites data are very applicable and useful for land use /land cover studies. Natural conservation area plays vital role in biodiversity. Study Area Objective To Analyze the existing land use/ Land cover in and Around Kolleru Lake using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information system techniques (GIS). Data base and Methodology The present study was based on primary and secondary data sources. The supervised and unsupervised classifications are two popular methods of Land Use/Land Cover classifications. The analysis is based on IRS P6 LISS IV Satellite image of Kolleru Lake and surroundings, Andhrapradesh. The Survey of India (SOI) topographical maps no s 65D/13, 65D/14, 65D/15, 65H/1, 65H/2, 65H/3, 65H/4, 65H/5, 65H/6, 65H/7, 65H/8, 65H/9, 65H/10, and 65H/11 (Scale-1:50,000) were scanned, geo-referenced and all the maps were joined using ERDAS imagine environment. The image processing software ERDAS IMAGINE 9.1 and Arc GIS 9.2 has been used. The study area is located in between 16 17'00'' and 16 59'00'' N latitudes and 80 50'00'' and 81 39'00'' E longitudes, covering in and around Kolleru lake region (Fig. 1). Water source to this lake is from its tributaries Budameru, Tammileru and Ramileru, originating from the Eastern Ghats. Fig.2: IRS P6 LISS IV Satellite imagery of the study area Results & Discussions Fig.1: Location map of the study area Land use/land cover information is the basic prerequisite for land, water, vegetation resources, utilization, conservation and management. The information on Land use/land cover available today in the form of thematic maps published statistical figures in records and publications are in ISSN No: 2319-3484 Volume 2, Issue 2, March 2013 2

adequate, inconsistent and don t provide up-to-date information on the changing land use patterns, process and their spatial distribution in space and time. It is here, satellite Remote Sensing offers alternate, accurate and faster mode of data collection and updating the land use/ land cover information and to arrive at a standard classification and explanation of different land use/ land cover classes. It is seen from the area under broad (Level I) Land use/ land cover, the Agricultural land is 60.72 % area, Aquaculture 27.91%, Water bodies 5.84%, Built up land 3.65%, Waste land 1.05% and Forest area 0.84% to the total Geographical Area (TGA) of the study area. The detailed (Level-II) land use/ land cover classes of 31 classes and their area statistics are shown in Table.1, Fig.3 and F.ig.4. Agricultural Land The state of Andhra Pradesh is popularly known as rice bowl of India. As the Lake Kolleru is located between the deltas of the Godavari and Krishna rivers, the lakebed is very fertile and suitable for agriculture. The agricultural land was cultivated both in Kharif as well as Rabi seasons and Agricultural plantations. The total area under this category in the study area was 2344km 2 which comes out to be 60.72 percent of the total geographical area of the study area. The area under fallow land, Agricultural Plantations, Horticulture plantations and Bamboo plantations was also included. Paddy and Sugarcane is the main crop of the study area. The Agricultural plantations in scattered patches were also present in the study area. Palm oil, Coconut and Mango plantations were the main plantations. The total area covered by these plantations was 270 km 2 which comes out to be 7 percent of the total geographical area of the study area. Threats from floods every year changed the behavior of farmers by shifting to aquaculture. In this process many of the farmers converted their agriculture land into aquaculture ponds (CSE, 2006). In India, the agricultural sector provides livelihood to 70% of the population directly or indirectly (Wikipedia, 2007). Even in Kolleru the inhabitants used to practice agriculture as their main occupation till 70s and later adopted practicing fish farming in large scale converting their crop lands to fish ponds. Only minor part of the lake still holds agricultural lands, but only useful for second crop. However the agriculture contributes less damage to the lake compared to other pressure factors. Fig.3: Land use/land cover map of the study area ISSN No: 2319-3484 Volume 2, Issue 2, March 2013 3

Aquaculture Aquaculture is one of the fastest growing food industries and the rapid growth of aquaculture worldwide has resulted in growing concerns about its impact on important ecosystems. Kolleru Lake, India s largest fresh water body and Ramsar site have undergone tremendous changes due to the development of aquaculture. The total area under this category in the study area was 1077.58sq.km which comes out to be 27.91 percent of the total geographical area of the study area. The area under Aqua ponds-demolished, Aqua pondshyacinth and Aqua ponds-dry was also included. Aquaculture is extensively carried out in the lakebed. According to the Kolleru Lake Development Scheme officials, the aquaculture is the most lucrative occupation in the area among other occupations. There are 58 Fishermen Co-operative Societies in the lake area, which consist of 5500 members. The illegal encroachments in the lake to construct fish ponds continued till 2004 with great vigor and occupied an area of 99.74 Km2 out of 180.38 Km2.The aquaculture is one of the factors in polluting the lake with pesticides and other chemicals used and it is considered as a main factor for causing floods in the area obstructing the free flow of the water. The fish business with high profits attracted many big investors in fish farming in the Kolleru. covered 3.65 percent of the total geographical area of the study area, which was the fourth major land use category identified after water bodies. Water bodies It is an area of impounded water, areal in extent and often with a regulated flow of water. It includes man-made reservoirs/lakes/tanks/ canals/, besides natural lakes, rivers/streams and creeks. The total area under this category in the study area was 225.43 km 2 which comes out to be 5.84 percent of the total geographical area of the study area. The area under canal, drainage net work, river streams and creek was also included. The area covered by major water body area was 63.60 km 2 which comes out be 1.65 percent of the total geographical area of the study area. The lake serves as a natural flood-balancing reservoir for Krishna and Godavari Rivers and is fed with several inflowing rivers, canals, streams and agricultural drains of which Budameru and Tammileru are the biggest (www.godavari.org, accessed on May 11, 2007). The lake discharges its excess water into the Bay of Bengal through a 72 km long out-flowing brackish water canal called Upputeru (uppu = salt, eru = canal). There are 46 island villages and 76 shoreline villages consisting of about two hundred thousand (200,000) inhabitants around the lake and the main occupations of the inhabitants are aquaculture, agriculture and duck farming (Anjaneyulu Y, 2003; Rama Raju T S, 2003; Alagarswami K, 1994). Forest Land Fig.4: Major Land Use/ Land Cover classes of the study area Built up Land This category comprised areas of intensive where much of the land was covered by man-made structures and streets. In this present study, this category was interpreted up to Level-11 as rural, urban and industrial built up. There were four towns in the study area namely Akivedu, Kaikuluru, Eluru, and Bhimavaram. These covered of an area of 34.85 KM 2 of land, which was 0.90 percent of total geographical area of the study area. The rural built up land covered 103.17KM 2 area and was 2.67 percent of TGA. Hence total area under built up land There was no reserve forest in the study area. The total area occupied by these open forest, forest plantations and forest blank was 32.52 km 2 which was 0.84 percent of total geographical area of the study area. It is described as an area of trees of species of forestry importance and raised on notified forest lands. It includes eucalyptus, casuarinas, bamboo etc. This area was much less than the required area of 33 percent under forest plantations for ecological balance as per the National Forest Policy. Waste Lands In the waste land category mainly land with or without scrub was there and covered an area of 15.40 km 2 while at few places patches of gullied or ravenous land in the southern part of the study area. The marshy land was covered by 4.19 km 2. Waterlogged land is that land where the water is at/or near the surface and water stands for most of the year. Such lands usually occupy topographically low lying areas. It excludes lakes, ponds and tanks. ISSN No: 2319-3484 Volume 2, Issue 2, March 2013 4

Table1: Land Use/Land Cover Statistics of Kolleru Lake in and Around (2009) Land use/land S.N O Level-1 Level-11 Built-up land- Area in Km 103.17 2 % of the TGA 2.67 1 BUILT UP Built-up land- 34.85 0.90 Built-up land- 3.07 0.08 LAND Sub total 141.09 3.65 Irrigated Crop 1911.3 49.49 Un irrigated 158.17 4.10 Palm oil/coco 135.31 3.50 2 AGRICULTUR Agricultural 95.63 2.48 Mango 30.11 0.78 AL LAND Horticulture 6.76 0.18 Bamboo 2.26 0.06 Fallow land 5.29 0.14 Sub total 2344.9 60.72 Aqua ponds 904.44 23.42 Aqua bunds 137.54 3.56 Aqua ponds- 23.20 0.60 3 Aqua ponds- 8.22 0.21 AQUACULTU Aqua ponds-dry 4.18 0.11 Sub total RE 1077.5 27.91 Major water 63.60 1.65 Canal/channel/dr 58.06 1.50 Waterbodies 53.16 1.38 4 WATER Creek 27.11 0.70 BODIES River/stream 23.50 0.61 Sub total 225.43 5.84 Open forest 24.36 0.63 5 FOREST Forest plantation 7.51 0.19 Forest Blank 0.65 0.02 Sub total 32.52 0.84 Water Logging 18.27 0.47 Land with or 15.40 0.40 Marshy lands 4.19 0.11 6 WASTE Sandy area- 1.14 0.03 LANDS Gullied/ravinous 0.63 0.02 Salt affected 0.37 0.01 land Stony Waste 0.43 0.01 Sub total 40.43 1.05 Total 3861.9 100.0 7 0 Conclusion This basic study shows how to classify land use/ land cover form satellite imagery, we calculated land use/ land cover area for the study area using supervised classification. The land use/ land cover map clearly shows that area of agricultural land is higher than others. The result of the analysis presented above shows that the area under review is fast growing in aquaculture. The present study has demonstrated the potential of Remote Sensing technology for, mapping the land use/ land cover status of an area. The results shows that the Kolleru lake in and around has good aquaculture potential (27.91% of TGA aquaculture) and agricultural land is 60.72 %( include plantations, fallow land and horticulture) total geographical area of the study area. These are evident from the satellite data analysis for the year 2009. We can see that aquaculture is rapidly expanding at the cost of the other sectors. Agricultural land and lake area are decreasing; Aquaculture is developing that is good cause, but whether to continue with this type of unplanned land use in the area or not needs to be seriously considered. Satellite remote sensing technique allows collecting up to date accurate information of land use/ land cover and further helps to monitor the changes periodically. There are number of implication of Kolleru lake in and around on the land use/ land cove the landscape s physiological destruction, illegal land encroachment and shrinkage of lake area. The Kolleru lake in and around must grow in harmony to share the population pressure on the lake area. So, it is expected that during the aquaculture development process the agricultural land and water body area converted into the aquaculture land result to decrease in lake area and increase in land value which can be used for financing of the aquaculture development. ACKNOLEDGEMENTS The authors acknowledge DST, Ministry of Science and Technology, New Delhi, for sanctioning the research project Hydrogeological and Groundwater resource evaluation studies in and around Kolleru Lake. References 1. Alagarswami, K. (1994), Annex II-5 INDIA, Annex II Country Reports, Report on a Regional Study and Workshop on the Environmental Assessment and Management of Aquaculture Development,FAO,ROME. 2. Alaguraja, P. Durairaju, S et al. (2010),Land use Land Cover Mapping - Madurai District, Tamilnadu, India ISSN No: 2319-3484 Volume 2, Issue 2, March 2013 5

Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques, International Journal of Civil and Structural Engineering, Vol.1, No. 1, Pp.91-100. 3. Andhra Pradesh Fisheries, 2007, Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007 to 2012), Fisheries in AndhraPradesh. 4. Bhagawat Rimal, (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. 5. Chaurasia, R. Loshali, D.C. Dhaliwal S.S and Sharma P.K (1995), Assessing the change in Agricultural land in Bathinda Dt., Punjab through Remote Sensing Techniques, National Geographical Journal of India, Vol. 41(1), Pp. 39-44. 6. Jitendra Kumar (2011), Mapping and Analysis of Land- Use/Land- Cover of Kanpur city using Remote Sensing Technique, 2006, Journal of the Institute of Indian Geographers, Vol.33, No.1, Pp.43-54. 7. Kantha,T.A and Zahoor ul Hassan, (2010), Assessment of Land use/ Land cover change in Wular Catchment using Remote Sensing and GIS, Journal of the Institute of Indian Geographers, Vol.32, No.1, Pp.53-62. 8. Marappan J, Peter Nila Rekha, Natarajan Kavitha and Pitchaiyappan Ravichandran,2006, Assessment of impact of aquaculture on Kolleru Lake (India) using remote sensing and Geographical information system, Aquaculture Research, Vol.37, P p: 1617-1627. 9. Minakshi. P.K, Sharma Virat Devasar, (2004), Land Use/Land Cover of Fatehgarh Sahib District Punjab, National Geographical Journal of India, Vol. 50, No. (3-4), Pp. 79-86. 10. Narayanakumar,R. and Kumarswamy,K. (2006), Land use and Land cover in Oussudu lake Environs A Remote Sensing Study, The Deccan Geographical Society, Vol.44, No.1, Pp.43-50. 11. Nayak.S and Behera MD. (2008), Land Use/Land Cover Classification and mapping of Pilibhit District, Uttar Pradesh, India, The Indian Geographical Journal, Vol.83, No.1, Pp.15-24. 12. Rao A. S, (2005),Environmental Degradation of Kolleru Lake, Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad, 2005. 13. Shah G.L and Archana. K Roy, (2006),Techniques of supervised classification in Land Cover/Land Use Mapping: A Case of Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, National Geographical Journal of India, Vol. 52, Pp. 163-170. 14. Veena U. Joshi and Vikas Nagare, (2010),Temporal Changes in the Land-Use/Land-Cover for the last one Decade along the Paravara River Basin, Journal of the Institute of Indian Geographers, Vol.32, No.2, Pp.183-192. Biographies 1. Mr. K.Harikrishna is presently working as a Senior Research Fellow in Department of Science and Technology project at Department of Geo- Engineering, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. He did M.tech Remote sensing from Andhra University. He has one year experience in Info-Tech Company, Hyderabad as a photogrammetry & GIS Engineer. At present, he is working for his Ph.D degree in department of Geo-Engineering. He has 3 research papers in International journals and one research paper in national journal. 2. Dr.N.Appala Raju did post gradution in Geography from Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. He did his Ph.D in 2012 from Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. He was published 7 research papers in national and international journals. 3. Dr.V.venkateswara Rao retired in August,2009 as Professor in the Department of Geo- Engineering,A.U.college of engineering, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. He worked as a principal, JITM, Parlakhimidi, Orissa, from march,2010 to February,2011. Presently he is involved doing consultancy projects on Hydrogeological investigations and rainwater harvesting studies to various industries at all over India. He obtained his Ph.D degree in 1984 in water resources development and management and M.Sc(Tech) Geophysics degree in 1975. Geophysical and Geotechnical investigations have been carried at 11 proposed inter linking of river projects to NWDA, Govt.of India and are spread all over the country. He has conducted a 6 weeks training programme to the Civil engineers and geologists of republic of Afghanisthan, Kabul on groundwater exploration and management during the year 1983-84 under UNICEF ISSN No: 2319-3484 Volume 2, Issue 2, March 2013 6

programme. He is a pioneer in developing the design of roof water harvesting since 1990 and influenced the common man to accept the technology. He was member, Rajiv Gandhi National drinking water mission, ministry of Rural Development, Govt.of India, during 2002-2004. He has published 51 research papers in national and international journals. Eight students got their Ph.D degree under his guidance and three members are at ready to submit. More than 120 M.Tech students submitted their dissertations. He has completed 4 research projects funded by DST, ISRO and NRSA. Presently he is carrying out the project Hydrogeological and Groundwater resource evaluation studies in and around Kolleru Lake funded by DST,New Delhi. 4. Dr.G.Jaisankar is presently working as a professor in Dept. of Geo-Engineering, A.U.college of engineering, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. He did his M.Sc in Geology from Andhra University and M.tech from IIRS,Dehradun(Center for space science and technology in Asia pacific region-un centre). He did Ph.D from Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. He is guiding research scholars for pursuing Ph.D s in Remote sensing and GIS applications in Earth Sciences. Three students got Ph.D degree under his guidance. He was published many research papers in national and international journals. He has guided more than 35 students for their M.Tech thesis. 5. Dr.E.Amminedu is presently working as a professor in Dept. of Geo-Engineering, A.U.college of engineering, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. He published 28 scientific papers in national and international journals and contributed 15 research papers in seminar proceedings. He has guided more than 40 students for their M.Tech thesis and 2 students for their Ph.D thesiss. He has been working since last 20 years in the field of river basin studies. His present research interests are applications of Remotesensing& GIS in the fields of 1) Watershed Management 2) Environmental studies of Lakes and reservoirs 3) Linking of river systems. ISSN No: 2319-3484 Volume 2, Issue 2, March 2013 7