Study of LULC change due to sand mining in Yamunanagar, Haryana using Geospatial Techniques

Abstract

Sand mining is the activity of removal of sand from rivers, streams and lakes. Mining of sand can be done by various methods such as skimming, dry and wet pool mining, bar excavations and scalping. This mining activity causes negative impact on the environment depending upon the methods of mining used and the geology of the mining area. Mining activities leads to many serious environmental hazards such as soil pollution, deforestation, water pollution, depletion of ground water table etc. Present study has been carried out in Yamunanagar district of Haryana state for the assessment of changes in land use/land cover pattern with the
help of remote sensing and GIS by using Landsat 8 satellite data. Two images of 2016 and 2019 were used to assess the change in land use. Supervised classification of the study area was done by ERDAS IMAGINE 2014 and land use/ Land cover maps were generated with the help of ARC GIS. Accuracy assessment was done in ERDAS IMAGINE. Study area was divided into 5 different land use classes. Changes in the land use / land cover like drastic reduction in sand area, increase in open area and reduction in green land and built up area was observed.