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GIS application for landuse/land cover management in context of wasteland – A case study of ferozepur Jhirka block in Haryana state
Results & conclusions :
As far as main results of the study are concern, these includes that four distinct clusters of villages emerge with one more groups of villages, which are transitional between any two types. These are (i) Steep Slopes and Dense Forested Hill Ranges, (ii a) Alluvial Plains - Mainly Agricultural, (ii b) Alluvial Plain - Agricultural Area with Wasteland due to Water Logging, (iii) Dissected Hills and Degraded Forests, (iv) Alluvial Plains with Residual Hills, and (v) Transitional Area.
Land capability map and village clusters are found to be very valuable in planning, particularly for identifying development schemes, which are area specific. This lends objectivity and selectivity in preparing a shelf of development schemes aimed at creation of durable assets as a part of the ecologically sound employment generating programmes.
Approach to the study of wasteland studied has covered extensively various attributes of land; an imprint of the complex association among the three important dimensions, namely, natural environment, land resource endowment and human response to its utilization. The approach adopted is holistic in its vertical (structural) and horizontal (spatial) relationships. To this end, landscape approach is attempted. For example, analysis of spatial distribution and the patterns and processes of interaction of the natural elements enabled classification of land units and their capability. This formed the physical-spatial framework for highlighting the causal relationship between landform, land use and the impact of indiscriminate use of land leading to degradation of forestland and impoverishment of soil. The following are the other important findings emerging from the study.
Land resource inventory prepared using topographical map of 1:50,000 scale and updated from the satellite imagery data on the same scale is essentially qualitative, though it reveals ground truth to the extent the scale of the map permits. A quantitative database has been created with village as the areal unit by measuring the areas covered under different land form-land uses. Spatial patterns of land use, wasteland and its seven typologies have been generated by mapping village-wise data using an appropriate cartographic technique. These maps are not only analytical but rich in information content in respect of the concentration of different types of land uses and wasteland in village clusters which show high, medium or low levels of concentration. This is an important step in identifying village clusters (as opposed to individual villages) having similar problems or potentials relating to land use planning. The importance of GIS has been amply demonstrated in the approach and findings of the study.
Village clusters having relative homogeneity in respect of certain spatial attributes have been identified and mapped. An attempt is also made to state their characteristics. As a follow-up of this exercise, it would be valuable to take up an in- depth study of at least two village clusters, which have contrasts in respect of the above characteristics, for formulating development schemes specific to them. Considering the process of district planning that is presently in vogue with reference to a general list of development schemes falling under the "District Sector", this study has served to identify the development problems selectively according to the problems and potentials specific to village clusters. Such a step would lend objectivity in financial allocation to schemes of development and also 'tie them' to area- specific programmes. The types of wasteland differ spatially. Yet the approach could be similar for formulating and implementing wasteland reclamation as a separate but related programme in district planning.
Problems in land form-land use planning at the micro-level have to be evaluated in the context of the felt needs and priorities of the people living in the area. From this consideration, selected demographic attributes, such as population size and density (per km2), work participation, occupational pattern, concentration of cultivators or landless agricultural labourers, etc. were mapped to bring out the land- man relationship spatially and to relate the emerging patterns to land use, land capability etc. However tentative, some of the findings are of direct relevance to attempts at reclamation of wasteland or afforestation as a means of generating employment, and reducing dependence on agriculture by developing off-farm activities like livestock rearing. These aspects need consideration while formulating development schemes.
The inherent limitations of land records data for portraying ground reality in micro-level planning are by now well recognized and measures are afoot to update them by adopting a more efficient and rapid method for building up such records.
In the present study, an attempt has been made to make use of selected attributes of land use, such as net area sown, area sown more than once, culturable waste and barren and unculturable lands. It is quite revealing how the spatial patterns generated with the help of satellite imagery and data from land records are at wide variance, the latter confusing and even misleading the facts related to ground reality. Data on net area sown obtained from these two sources show less variation, while within them; details of land use, crops and wasteland differ very sharply. This is understandable, because field checking with the help of cadastral maps rarely updates the data on land use available in land records.
With regard to data retrieved from satellite imageries too, accuracy at the ground level is far from reality. In a separate exercise, this has been brought out by identifying all patches of wasteland through field observations and mapping plot- wise using cadastral map. Resolution on 1:50,000 scale of the satellite imagery is not adequate to match ground truth by field survey. Moreover, the area covered by minimum mappable unit on 1:50,000 scale is 2.25 hectares, while plot sizes of less than even one-fourth the area covered by the imagery are locally important for the landowners, in particular, for integrated land and water management for the village as a whole (e.g. use of common property land for social forestry, pastures, etc.).
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