Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Evolution of Wetlands in Lower Reaches of Bagmari-Bansloi-Pagla Rivers:A Study Using Multidated Images and Maps


Affiliations
1 Department of Geography, Subhas Chandra Bose Centenary College, P.O. Murshidabad, Murshidabad 742 149, India
2 Department of Geography, University of Gour Banga, P. O. English Bazar, Malda 732 103, India
 

Numerous seasonally flooded wetlands in the lower Gangetic floodplain offer unique natural habitat for many migratory bird species due to their geographical location and hydro-ecological functioning. The various developmental projects change the riverine flow regime and cause hydro-ecological modification in the Gangetic floodplain wetland system. This study presents a comprehensive spatio-temporal monitoring of wetland dynamics in the lower segment of the Bagmari-Bansloi-Pagla sub-basin of the Ganga-Bhagirathi rivers using image classification technique and some fragmentation indices. Our results reveal that the land-use conversion and fragmentation processes that affect the wetland landscape are generally represented as the evolution, and consecutive drying and squeezing of wetland patches over the study area. The water-spreading area of the wetlands was highest during 1975 after the construction of the Bhagirathi feeder canal. The situation has worsened since 1980 due to cumulative effects of agriculture after the Green revolution, and the whole landscape has become a fragmented, isolated and agronomically managed wetland.

Keywords

Ahiran Wetland, Fragmentation, Green Revolution, Hydrological Alteration, Landsat Image.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Li, L., Vrieling, A., Skidmore, A., Wang, T., Muñoz, A. R. and Turak, E., Evaluation of MODIS spectral indices for monitoring hydrological dynamics of a small, seasonally-flooded wetland in Southern Spain. Wetlands, 2015, 35(5), 851–864.

  • Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, Wetlands: water, life and culture. In Resolution VIII.33 Guidance for Identifying, Sustainably Managing, and Designating Temporary Pools as Wetlands of International, 2002; http://www.ramsar.org/sites/default/files/documents/pdf/res/key_res_viii_33_e.pdf

  • Reddy, K. R. and Gale, P. M., Wetland processes and water quality: a symposium overview. J. Environ. Qual., 1994, 23(5), 875–877.

  • Tockner, K., Bunn, S. E., Gordon, C., Naiman R. J., Quinn, G. P., Standord, J. A. and Polunin, N. V. C., Flood plains: critically threatened ecosystems. Aquatic Ecosystem (ed. Polunin, N. V. C.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2008, pp. 45–61.

  • Finlayson, C. M., Davidson, N. C. and Stevenson, N. J., Wetland inventory, assessment and monitoring: Practical techniques and identification of major issues: summary. In Proceedings of Workshop 4, 2nd International Conference on Wetlands and Development, Dakar, Senegal, 8–14 November 1998. Darwin: Supervising Scientist Report 161.

  • Jiang, P., Cheng, L., Li, M., Zhao, R. and Huang, Q., Analysis of landscape fragmentation processes and driving forces in wetlands in arid areas: a case study of the middle reaches of the Heihe River, China. Ecol. Indicators, 2014, 46, 240–252.

  • Foote, L., Pandey, S. and Krogman, N. T., Processes of wetland loss in India. Environ. Conserv., 1996, 23(1), 45–54.

  • Prasad, S. N. et al., Conservation of wetlands of India – a review. Trop. Ecol., 2002, 43(1), 173–186.

  • Scott, D. A. and Pole, C. M., A Status Overview of Asian Wetlands. Asian Wetlands Bureau, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1989, Publication No. 53.

  • Gopal, B., Future of wetlands in tropical and subtropical Asia, especially in the face of climate change. Aquat. Sci., 2013, 75(11), 39–61.

  • Pal, S. and Akoma, O. C., Water scarcity in wetland area within Kandi Block of West Bengal: a hydro-ecological assessment. Ethiop. J. Environ. Stud. Manage., 2009, 2(3), 1–12.

  • MEA (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment), Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Biodiversity Synthesis, World Resources Institute, Washington DC, 2005, p. 68.

  • Tockner, K. and Stanford, J. A., Riverine flood plains: present state and future trends. Environ. Conserv., 2002, 29(03), 308–330.

  • Junk, W., Bayley, P. B. and Sparks, R. E., The flood pulse concept in river–floodplain systems. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci., 1986, 106, 110–127.

  • Kingsford, R. T. and Thomas, R. F., Use of satellite image analysis to track wetland loss on the Murrumbidgee River flood plain in arid Australia, 1975–1998. Water Sci. Technol., 2002, 45(11), 45–54.

  • Kingsford, R. T. and Thomas, R. F., Destruction of wetlands and waterbird populations by dams and irrigation on the Murrumbidgee River in arid Australia. Environ. Manage., 2004, 34(3), 383–396.

  • Zhao, R., Chen, Y., Zhou, H., Li, Y., Qian, Y. and Zhang, L., Assessment of wetland fragmentation in the Tarim River basin, western China. Environ. Geol., 2009, 57(2), 455–464.

  • Rao, K. L., India’s Water Wealth: Its Assessment, Uses and Projections, Orient Longman, New Delhi, 1975.

  • Behera, M. D., Chitale, V. S., Shaw, A., Roy, P. S. and Murthy, M. S. R., Wetland monitoring, serves as an index of land cover change – a study in Samaspur Wetlands, Uttar Pradesh, India. J. Indian Soc. Remote Sensing, 2012, 40(2), 287–297.

  • Kennedy, R. E., Townsend, P. A., Gross, J. E., Cohen, W. B., Bolstad, P., Wang, Y. Q. and Adams, P., Remote sensing change detection tools for natural resource managers: understanding concepts and trade-offs in the design of landscape monitoring projects. Remote Sensing of Environ., 2009, 113, 1382–1396.

  • Anon., Directory of Indian Wetlands WWFINDIA, New Delhi and AWB, Kuala Lumpur, 1993, pp xvi + 264, 32 maps.

  • Panigrahy, S., Murthy, T. V. R., Patel, J. G. and Singh, T. S., Wetlands of India: inventory and assessment at 1 : 50,000 scale using geospatial techniques. Curr. Sci., 2013, 102(6), 852–856.

  • Space Applications Centre, National Wetland Atlas: West Bengal, SAC/RESA/AFEG/NWIA/ATLAS/2010. Space Application Centre, ISRO, Ahmedabad, 2010.

  • Vass, K. K., Das, M. K., Srivastava, P. K. and Dey, S., Assessing the impact of climate change on inland fisheries in River Ganga and its plains in India. Aquat. Ecosyst. Health Manage., 2009, 12(2), 138–151.

  • Sundar, K. S. G. and Kittur, S., Can wetlands maintained for human use also help conserve biodiversity? Landscape-scale patterns of bird use of wetlands in an agricultural landscape in north India. Biol. Conserv., 2013, 168, 49–56.

  • Bagchi, K., The Ganges Delta, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, 1944.

  • Rudra, K., Changing river courses in the western part of the Ganga–Brahmaputra delta. Geomorphology, 2014, 227, 87–100.

  • Mukherjee, A., Fryar, A. E. and Howell, P. D., Regional hydrostratigraphy and groundwater flow modeling in the arsenic-affected areas of the western Bengal basin, West Bengal, India. Hydrogeol. J., 2007, 15(7), 1397–1418.

  • Jha, S., A note on whitenecked stokes. Newsl. Birdwatchers, 1998, 38, 70–71.

  • Townshend, J. R. and Justice, C. O., Analysis of the dynamics of African vegetation using the normalized difference vegetation index. Int. J. Remote Sensing, 1986, 7(11), 1435–1445.

  • McFeeters, S. K., The use of normalized difference water index (NDWI) in the delineation of open water features. Int. J. Remote Sensing, 1996, 17(7), 1425–1432.

  • McGarigal, K., Cushman, S. A. and Neel, M. C., FRAGSTATS: spatial pattern analysis program for categorical maps. Computer software program developed at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2002; http://www.umass.edu/landeco/research/fragstats/fragstats.html.

  • Jiang, H., Strittholt, J. R., Frost, P. A. and Slosser, N. C., The classification of late seral forests in the Pacific Northwest, USA using Landsat ETM+ imagery. Remote Sensing Environ., 2004, 91(3), 320–331.

  • Banerjee, M., A report on the impact of Farakka barrage on the human fabric. South Asian Network on Dams, Rivers and People, New Delhi, 1999.

  • Chapman, G. P., and Rudra, K., Water as foe, water as friend: lessons from Bengal’s millennium flood. J. South Asian Develop., 2007, 2(1), 19–49.

  • Dunne, T. and Leopold, L. B., Water in Environmental Planning, Freeman, San Francisco, CA, 1978, p. 818.

  • Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Guidelines for aid agencies for improved conservation and sustainable use of tropical and subtropical wetlands, Paris, 1996.

  • Biswas, B., Ghosh, D. C., Dasgupta, M. K., Trivedi, N., Timsina, J. and Dobermann, A., Integrated assessment of cropping systems in the Eastern Indo-Gangetic plain. Field Crops Res., 2006, 99(1), 35–47.

  • Harriss, J., What is happening in rural West Bengal? Agrarian Reform, growth and distribution. Econ. Polit. Wkly., 1993, 28, 1237–1247.

  • Mukherji, A., Shah, T. and Banerjee, P. S., Kick-starting a second green revolution in Bengal (India). Econ. Polit. Wkly., 2012, 47(18), 27–30.

  • Bardhan, P., Mookherjee, D. and Kumar, N., State-led or marketled green revolution? role of private irrigation investment vis-a-vis local government programs in West Bengal’s farm productivity growth. J. Develop. Econ., 2012, 99(2), 222–235.

  • Bassi, N., Kumar, M. D., Sharma, A. and Pardha-Saradhi, P., Status of wetlands in India: a review of extent, ecosystem benefits, threats and management strategies. J. Hydrol.: Regional Stud., 2014, 2, 1–19.

  • Bardhan, P. and Mookherjee, D., Subsidized farm input programs and agricultural performance: a farm-level analysis of West Bengal’s green revolution, 1982–1995. Am. Econ. J.: Appl. Econ., 2011, 3(4), 186–214.

  • ENVIS, Centre on Faunal Diversity; http://zsienvis.nic.in.


Abstract Views: 398

PDF Views: 133




  • Evolution of Wetlands in Lower Reaches of Bagmari-Bansloi-Pagla Rivers:A Study Using Multidated Images and Maps

Abstract Views: 398  |  PDF Views: 133

Authors

Debabrata Mondal
Department of Geography, Subhas Chandra Bose Centenary College, P.O. Murshidabad, Murshidabad 742 149, India
Swades Pal
Department of Geography, University of Gour Banga, P. O. English Bazar, Malda 732 103, India

Abstract


Numerous seasonally flooded wetlands in the lower Gangetic floodplain offer unique natural habitat for many migratory bird species due to their geographical location and hydro-ecological functioning. The various developmental projects change the riverine flow regime and cause hydro-ecological modification in the Gangetic floodplain wetland system. This study presents a comprehensive spatio-temporal monitoring of wetland dynamics in the lower segment of the Bagmari-Bansloi-Pagla sub-basin of the Ganga-Bhagirathi rivers using image classification technique and some fragmentation indices. Our results reveal that the land-use conversion and fragmentation processes that affect the wetland landscape are generally represented as the evolution, and consecutive drying and squeezing of wetland patches over the study area. The water-spreading area of the wetlands was highest during 1975 after the construction of the Bhagirathi feeder canal. The situation has worsened since 1980 due to cumulative effects of agriculture after the Green revolution, and the whole landscape has become a fragmented, isolated and agronomically managed wetland.

Keywords


Ahiran Wetland, Fragmentation, Green Revolution, Hydrological Alteration, Landsat Image.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv112%2Fi11%2F2263-2272