Reservoir Induced Spatio-Temporal Changes in Land-Use/Land-Cover Pattern of Bagalkot Due to Submergence Using Remote Sensing and GIS

Bagalkot and surrounding several villages have come under submergence due to the construction of Alamatti Dam under the Upper Krishna Project. Rehabilitation of the people had been done by authorities in Navanagar, a newly developed area. Apart from cities and villages large stretcthes of agricultural, barren and forest lands have come under submergence. It is of interest to study the impact of submergence on the city and its surrounding areas. The change in land-use/land-cover pattern with time is analyzed in this study using remote sensing images over the last three decades. The water storage upstream of the dam was started in the year 2001. The impact of water storage on Land-use/Land-cover pattern in the area is studied. LULC maps of Bagalkot taluk before (1991) and after this year (2001, 2011, and 2021) are prepared and analyzed for change detection. There is a drastic decrease in agricultural areas, with an increase in water bodies and built-up areas. Initially, the forest land decreases, but slowly re-gains due to the availability of water. Due to these changes, the weather and climate of the area is also affected.