Spatio-temporal analysis of land use in urban mumbai -using multi-sensor satellite data and gis techniques

The process of urbanization has induced rapid changes in the land use leading to many infrastructural and environmental problems, one of them being the frequent flooding during rains in major cities across the world. Present paper analyses the spatio-temporal variations in the urban land use of the Mithi river catchment in Mumbai and its effect on the river, its drainage and flooding events in catchment area, specifically in conjunction with the July 26, 2005 flood event in Mumbai City. Multi sensor satellite data and GIS techniques have been used to generate land use/land cover at three different points of time and study variations in the Mithi river course, thus correlating the land use/cover changes vis-a-vis the hydrographic and meteorologic information for the Mithi river catchment. Results point to the adverse human-induced influences on the Mithi river and its catchment. Almost 50% reduction in river width and 70% decrease in mudlfats and open spaces have been observed. There is also a clear rise in builtup from 29% to 70% between 1966 and 2005, thus increasing the impervious surface which in turn increases run-off during major rainfall, eventually flooding the city.