Abstract:
In this study GIS and remote sensing techniques have been applied for assessing the increasing trend of farmland conversion of Mardan city, Pakistan into impervious surfaces. The study area was a part of the fertile and productive land of Peshawar vale. The analysis was undertaken using Landsat 30 m of 1990 and SPOT 2.5 m of 2010. The datasets were interpreted with Maximum Likelihood supervised classification approach in ArcGIS environment. In addition, ground verification and parcel data for the test years were obtained from the Land and Revenue Department, Mardan. The results were classified into major land use categories of built-up area, farmland and cultivable waste. The analysis revealed that rapid increase in population has resulted in haphazard urban expansion particularly after 1990. During the study period, the built-up area has been doubled from 30% of the total city area in 1990 to over 63% in 2010, thereby has doubled the impervious surfaces. Consequently, the prime agricultural land has shrunk from 1,339 ha (42%) to 1,109 ha (35%) during the two decades. Similarly, the share of cultivable waste was decreased from 827 ha (26%) in 1990 to 16 ha (0.5%) in 2010. It was found that the increasing demand for housing and other infrastructure was fulfilled by conversion of fertile agricultural and cultivable waste. The study further revealed that Mardan city is expanding haphazardly in all directions without strategic land use regulations and planning and thus is posing serious threats to the fragile environment.
Page(s):
35-46
DOI:
DOI not available
Published:
Journal: Proceedings of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences: B. Life and Environmental Sciences, Volume: 53, Issue: 1, Year: 2016
Keywords:
GIS
,
Land Use
,
Remote Sensing
,
cereal production
,
Mardan city