Landuse/Landcover (LULC) mapping is an important input for planning, programming and implementing any land management activity. It is considered an essential element for modeling and understanding the earth as a system. This paper presents the landuse/landcover pattern of Dhansiri (south) River Basin of Assam. Multi temporal remote sensing data (LANDSAT ETM 1999 and IRS LISS III 2008) in GIS has been used to analyze and interpret the landuse/landcover changes between the years 1999 and 2008. The results show the pattern of change in landuse/landcover and the factors underlying it during the study period. The land use/land cover of the area has been classified into thirteen major types which are further categorized under five major groups. During the study period 1999 to 2008, significant area changes are observed in respect of agriculture and settlement landuse/landcover groups. Under agriculture landuse/landcover group, the area covered by agricultural land which mainly includes croplands has significantly decreased. These can be attributed to the increasing demand on land for settlement owing to growing population in the basin area.
Landuse, Landcover, GIS, Remote Sensing, Dhansiri River basin
