Visual change detection study of some of the urban areas of Assam, India using Remote Sensing

Remote Sensing is an efficient tool for change detection of land cover/forest cover/urban mapping incorporating satellite imagery. It not only provides us with the extents but also indicates some cultural, political and ecological impacts due to which the changes have occurred or land cover is tempered. The images indicate such changes in the urban areas of Assam. From these images the severity and extent of deforestation is an eye-opener. In Assam along the Brahmaputra and the riverine tracts of its tributaries, several cities are selected where the extent and severity of deforestation is high. These cities belong to the districts of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Nagaon, and Kamrup all along the river. The urban sprawl area is studied taking 1974 and 2009 Landsat imageries using ArcGIS online explorer. It has been found that vast changes occurred due to migration of the people to cities in search of jobs and cultural advantages, and this has resulted in the formation of huge urban areas and surrounding periurban environs. But its effects are impacting the quality of life in every region of Assam, in the large cities and small towns. The present trend is to rapidly develop farms, agricultural land and forests into housing developments or strip malls. And the rate of development is accelerating. As a result, people suffer from increased traffic congestion, longer commutes, increased dependence on fossil fuels, crowded schools, worsened air and water pollution, threatened surface and ground water supplies, lost open space and wetlands, increased flooding, destroyed wildlife habitat, higher taxes, and dying city centres. Moreover, sprawl is creating a hidden debt of unfunded infrastructure and services, social dysfunction, urban decay and environmental degradation.