It indicates that the aquatic ecosystem of an area disappeared due to unplanned development of agro ecosystems and human settlements. This area was earlier covered with ponds, wetlands and ox-bow lakes. Now, during the rainy season, inhabitants of these wards face severe problem of water logging and pollution.
The basic objective of the study was to find out potential locations for regeneration of aquatic ecosystems with the help of remote sensing and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) technologies. The hypothesis was that unplanned growth of human activities has an adverse affect on ecology and human development. Nine low elevated wards of Bareilly Municipal Corporation in India covering an area of 42.78 square km were selected for the study.
The present study is based on LANDSAT satellite and Google Earth data. The data was processed and analysed with the help of ArcGIS 9.2 and ERDAS IMAGINE 9.1. The study generated the following maps -
- Bareilly Municipal Corporation – wards, contours, land use and population;
- Selected wards for 2D and 3D analysis: The analysis indicated that the selected wards are low elevated and sparsely populated. During the rainy season inhabitants of these wards face severe problem of water logging and water pollution. To address this problem, very low lying areas of these ward were identified for potential locations of ponds. As per the study, ponds regeneration will not only solve the problem of water logging but it will also be helpful for rain water harvesting and conservation of so many fresh water plants and animal life;
- Political and geomorphic maps for potential ponds locations of various wards.
The study also presents the ward wise area of potential locations for ponds generated with the help of remote sensing and GIS. The study indicates that the regeneration of aquatic ecosystems will be helpful to maintain the ecology as well as socio-economic development in these wards.
The article can be viewed at Geospatial World here
