Temporal Changes in Land Use and Land Cover: A Case Study of Alipurduar Town, West Bengal

Abstract

Population growth and associated infrastructure development have altered the landscape; affecting land use and land cover patterns even in remote regions of developing countries. Alipurduar, being located at unique geographical location in the heartland of diversified floral and faunal assemblage also witnessed urban expansion. Land use change is unavoidable especially in this age of development and urbanization. Therefore, monitoring and measurement of land use and land cover is significant to find out the exact scenario of urbanization. This paper primarily aims to analyze the changing land use and land cover pattern of Alipurduar Town. West Bengal for last two decades. For this study different satellite images have been analyzed with GIS and Remote Sensing techniques to visualize the change in land use and land cover.