land changes india

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S. Chawla / Journal of Environment (2012), Vol. 01, Issue 01, pp. 14-20 ISSN 2049-8373

Available online at www.scientific-journals.co.uk 14

Research Review

Land Use Changes in India and its Impacts on

Environment

Shashi Chawla

Department of Applied Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, Amity School of Engineering & Technology,New Delhi, India

E-Mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Land use changes result from population growth and migration of poor rural people to urban areas for economic

opportunities. Changes in land use directly influence the regional air quality, energy consumption and climate at global,

regional and local scales. Controlled, coordinated and planned urbanization is a gift to the human society. However,

unplanned urbanization can be a disaster. Urban sprawl refers to some types of uncoordinated land use resulting from lackof integrated and holistic approach in regional planning. Information related to the rate of growth, pattern and extent of

sprawl is required by urban planners to provide basic amenities such as water, sanitation, electricity, etc. Urban sprawl

increases traffic problems, depletes local resources and destroys open space. Thus, it is very important to examine causes ofurban spread out, its associated problems and possible solutions in India. This paper provides a valuable basis to understand

the major issues faced by urban citizens in India as a consequence of land use changes. The suggested solutions are very

helpful for the strategic planning in future.

Keywords:Land Use Changes, India, Environmental Impact, Pollution

1. Introduction

Agriculture, industry, energy production, urban

development, grazing, logging, mining and other

land uses relate to human activity or economic function

associated with a specific piece of land. Generally land

use is constrained by soil characteristics, topography,vegetation, climate, and other such environmental

factors. But it also reflects the importance of land as a

crucial and finite resource for most human activities.

Land use is a product of interactions between

cultural backgrounds, state and physical needs of the

society with the natural potential of land (Karwariya &

Goyal, 2011).

Often improper land use is responsible for various forms of

environmental degradation. It is essential to know the

natural characteristics, extent and location, its quality,

productivity, suitability and limitations of various land

uses for sustainable utilization of the land ecosystems. The

need for new housing, schools, industries, transportation

and other civic amenities increases with increase in

population. Earlier this was considered as a development,

advancement or urbanization. However, urban dispersionprocesses in various Indian cities have led to patterns of

uncontrolled suburbanization. Sprawl is defined as the

uncontrolled spreading out of a given city and its suburbs

over more and more semi-rural land at the periphery of an

urban area. The sprawling process of expansion is

disordered, unplanned, leading often to inefficient and

unsustainable urban expansion patterns (Travisi and

Camagni, 2005).

Urban sprawl is characterized by four dimensions

i.e. widely dispersed population in low-density

development; sharply separated homes, stores, and


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workplaces; poorly connected network of roads, marked

huge superblocks and lack of well-defined activity

centres and downtowns (Camagni et al, 2002 and Wright,

2005).

Sprawl can be measured by using an integrated sprawl

index containing configuration (density and scatter) as well

as composition (mixed land use). The following indicators

are used for measurement of sprawl (Frenkel & Ashkenazi,

2005):

Growth rates are measured by the ratio between

the growth rate of built-up areas and the

population growth rate (sprawl quotients).

Urban activity is residential units, number of

residents and employees.

Density is ratio between a certain urban activity

and the area in which it exists.

Spatial geometry is measured using leapfrog and

continuity to quantify scattering and fragmentati-

on of the urban landscape.

Accessibility is measured using road length, road

areas and travelling times of households. In

general, the condition of poor accessibility is

followed by the higher use of private vehicles.

Aesthetic measures are difficult to measure as

sprawl is a boring, homogenous form of develop-

ment.

Consequences of urban sprawl can be positive and

negative. Increased satisfaction of housing preferences,

the convenience of car travel, the filling in of leapfrogging

land, lower crime rates and better public schools

in suburban local governments are some of the

positive effects of sprawl. However, a shortage of

functional open space, car and its polluting

effects, air and water pollution, loss of farmland,

tax money spent on duplicative infrastructure,

concentrated poverty, racial and economicsegregation, a shortage of employment accessibility etc.

are some of the negative effects of sprawl (Wassmer,

2005).

Urban sprawl lead to shift towards more personal vehicle

use and is thus responsible for more pollution, higher road

accidents and an ever-increasing demand for petroleum.Auto-catalysts in catalytic converter play a key role in

automotive emissions control because of their

extraordinary and sometimes exclusive properties. Thus,

they play an important role in building a more sustainable

society (Christian, 2011).

2. DPSIR Framework for Urban Sprawl

In Section 2, DPSIR framework is presented. The driving

forces of environmental change; pressures on the environ-ment; the state of the environment; impacts on the

population; and the response of the society is described in

this conceptual framework.

2.1. Driving Forces (D)

Income, wealth and car use provide the framework for land

consumption of households, companies, and public spaces

such as parks. However location choices are made based

on the comparison of costs and utility effects (Siedentop,

2005). The lack of consistent and coherent urban

development policy, faulty and improper urban planning,

poor implementation and inefficient regulation are some of

the important causes of urban sprawl in India (MHUPA,

2011).

2.2. Pressures (P)

Car ownership numbers in families residing in the new

dispersed suburbs are much higher than those residing in

high density spaces. This is because separation and

differentiation of land use intensifies mobility. Pressures in

future will increase as projections suggest that India will

have more than 700 million urban persons by the 2040s

(MHUPA, 2011).

Slump has been criticized for eliminating permeable area.Increase in the paved area severely reduces the

groundwater recharge potential, leading to situations which

may truly be potential catastrophes (Farooq & Ahmed,

2008).

2.3. State (S)

In Delhi, India built-up area witnessed an overall

increment of 16.86% of the total city area of 1490 km2

during 1997 to 2008. This area mainly came from

agriculture land, waste land, scrub-land, sandy areas and

water bodies. In comparison the increment in forest cover

of 0.5% is very small. Total area of water bodies hasreduced by 52.9% in the same period. To increase the

quality of life in an urban environment, it is essential to

preserve and manage natural land use classes through

appropriate urban planning (Manju et al, 2011).

Along the Mangalore-Udupi highway in India, it was

found that the percentage change in built-up area over a

period of nearly thirty years was 145.68% and by 2050 the

built-up area in the region would rise to 127.7 km2, which

would be about 106% growth in the change in built-up

area to the current sprawl of 61.7 km2 over the region

(Ramachandra et al, 2004).


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Sprawls change in Salem city situated in Salem District of

Tamilnadu, India was identified and quantified for 1973-

2010. It was found that the Old Suramangalam Cluster or

North West Cluster extends from Andipatti to BurnsColony. The Kalarampatti to NGGO Colony/ Chinna

Kollapatti extensions is the Second Cluster which occupies

in the north-eastern part of the corporation. This implies

that by 2020 and 2050, the built-up area in the region

would rise beyond the corporation limits and hence the

corporation limit will be extended (Tamilenthi et al, 2011).

With the expansion of the urban expansion and the

increasing population in Lucknow, India, there has been an

excessive pressure on natural and built drainage systemsand surface/subsurface hydrological storage units. Changes

in land use and land cover were estimated with respect to

urban sprawl and methodology is suggested during the

design of the master plan with focus on surface and sub-

surface water integrity of Lucknow (Dutta et al, 2010).

Assessment of Raichur City located in the state of

Karnataka, India, revealed that the city is under imminent

threat from the rapid urbanization. As per the present

trend, by 2021, nearly 27% of the agricultural land would

be converted to settlements resulting in shortage of the

surface and ground water resources which, in turn, would

further impact agriculture (Basawaraja et al, 2011).

Urban sprawl is consuming agricultural land and

threatening ecologically sensitive areas. It also

significantly increases the cost of providing infrastructure(MHUPA, 2011).

In India, there were five cities with a population greater

than 1 million and much of humans effectively lived in

0.56 million villages in 1951. There are, however, 53 cities

with population greater than 1 million and 3 cities with

population greater than 10 million in 2011. The census

figures of 2011 reveal that the process of urbanization has

accelerated from an increase from 25.5% to 27.8% to

31.2% of total population in decades ending in 1991, 2001,

and 2011 respectively. Number of Rural and Urban

Settlements and their Population in India are summarized

in Table 1. Over the next 50 years, India will experiencethe second largest Urban transformation in history,

involving approximately 5 mega-urban regions, seventy

plus million cities and over 0.5 million villages across a

diverse sub-continental landscape. India will thus make a

historic transition from a largely rural and agricultural

society to one that is predominantly urban (IIHS, 2012).

2.4. Impacts (I)

Shifting to a car-dependent lifestyle has caused an ever-

increasing demand for petroleum. The higher rates of

vehicle use lead to higher road accidents. Less walking and

more usage of personal vehicles led to higher incidence of

obesity and high blood pressures in owners. All the

driveways, highways, parking lots associated with urban

sprawl lead to a significant increase in runoff, resulting inincreased flooding and erosion of stream banks. Water

quality is degraded by the runoff of fertilizer, pesticides,

oil that drips from engines, etc. In addition, sprawling

development is also responsible for loss of agricultural

land, landscapes and wildlife. Various Indian cities are

suffering from untidy informal irregular growth, huge

urban land shortages, growth of slums, chaotic transport,

insufficient municipal finances, inefficient governance,

water logging, damaging diseases, huge infrastructure and

housing shortages (Figure 1) (MHUPA, 2011).

The agricultural space is used, connected agricultural land

is destroyed, natural potential of soils is indirectly lost and

the endangered animals and plants are eliminated

(Ecological Impacts). Inhabitants of densely built cities

have to bear lower traffic costs. As households and firms

suburbanize, radial commuting to the city centre is more

and more replaced by cross-commuting within the urban

area. Even in a more decentralized structure, transportation

costs may actually be lower with jobs nearby. The time

cost of commuting would have increased even more

without suburbanization (Traffic Impacts).

Sprawl leads to an erosion of functioning urban cores. Thisresults in reduction in degree of social interactions and

cultural diversity (Social and health impacts) (Siedentrop,

2005).

The rapid growth of population has brought about

extensive land-use changes in the Himalayas, mainly

through the extension of cultivation and large-scale

deforestation. The irrational land transformation process

has not only disrupted the ecological balance of the

Himalayan watersheds through reduced groundwater

recharge, increased run-off and soil erosion, but has also

adversely affected the economy and ecology of the

adjoining Indo-Gangetic plains by frequent floods and

reduced irrigation potential (Tiwari, 2000). The agro-

ecosystems of Central Himalayan villages are under

enormous pressure due to industrialization andcommercialization of agriculture. The production and

suitable management of resources is necessary to save

these natural ecosystems from further decline (Chandra et

al, 2011).

As the number of cars on the road increases, a number of

harmful pollutants are emitted as vehicular exhausts. These

pollutants include carbon monoxide gas, nitric oxide,hydrocarbons and particulates. Carbon monoxide (CO)

reduces the capacity of the blood to carry oxygen and

extended exposure to CO can contribute to heart disease.

Nitric oxide product is precursor for atmospheric


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generation of nitric acid-one of the constituents of acid rain

and is also an essential component in photochemical smog

formation which intensifies breathing problems.

Hydrocarbons have an unpleasant smell and they are alsoinvolved in the formation of smog. Particulate matter

interferes with normal respiratory functions and is

associated with emphysema, asthma and bronchitis

(VanLoon & Duffy, 2011).

Vehicular pollution is increasing in Indian cities and has a

deleterious effect on various systems of the body. This was

found through a study in two areas of Delhi (India); one

highly polluted and the other low polluted area

(Bhattacharya et al, 2007).

As roadways choke on traffic, researchers suspect that the

tailpipe exhaust from trucks and cars-especially tiny

carbon particles already implicated in cancer, respiratory

ailments and heart disease- may also injure brain cells and

synapses key to learning and memory (Robert, 2011).

A pioneering program by New Delhi, Indias 2003

conversion of 90,000 buses, taxis and auto-rickshaws to

compressed natural gas (CNG) has not significantly

improved harmful vehicle emissions. The study finds thatas much as one third of CNG is not properly burned in

two-stroke engines, producing high emissions of methane

that contributes to climate change. CNG use also produced

substantial emissions of high particulate matter from

unburned lubricating oil (UBC, 2011).

Particulate matter: Fine, ultrafine and black carbon

particles are associated with respiratory, heart diseases and

premature death. Their concentrations in Delhi auto-

rickshaws are about 2-10 times higher than measured in

other megacities around the world. Pollution is 35-55%

less in AC cars with windows closed. Short-term peak

concentrations in auto-rickshaws are about 6-50 times

higher than ambient levels. Thus it is crucial to reduceemissions of vehicle fleet (Apte et al, 2011).

Table 1. Number of Rural and Urban Settlements and their Population in India (IIHS, 2012)

Settlements Population (%)Year

Rural Urban Rural Urban

1991 634,321 3,351 74.5 25.5

2001 638,588 5,161 72.2 27.8

2011 640,867 7,935 68.8 31.2

Figure.1. DPSIR Framework for Urban Sprawl (Wright, 2005)


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Air pollution due to road traffic is a serious health hazard

and thus the persons, who are continuously exposed, like

traffic policemen, are at an increased risk. The effect of

pollution by vehicular exhausts may be responsible forimpairment in lung function in traffic policemen (Gupta et

al, 2011).

Levels of ambient air pollution uniformly exceed the

recently revised WHO air quality guideline (AQG) levels

across most cities in India, with almost 80 nonattainment

cities and towns and 24 critically polluted hotspots

identified by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

An estimated 120,600 deaths are attributed to outdoor air

pollution each year in India (Balakrishnan et al, 2011).

2.5. Responses (R)

Indian government is trying to control pollution by

implementing strict emission control laws. Ministry of

Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of

India has started Urban Strategic Planning for the 12th

Five-Year Plan (MHUPA, 2011).

3. Discussion

3.1. Vehicular Pollution Control using Auto-Catalyst

The chemistry of platinum group metals (pgms), namely,

platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and

osmium, is dominated by the catalytic properties of the

metals. Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC) uses a Platinum

Group Metal (PGM) catalyst. Diesel Particulate Filter

(DPF) may also be catalysed by pgms to aid regeneration.

Oxides of nitrogen (NOx) absorbers based on pgm, hold

NOx until the downstream Selective Catalytic Reduction

(SCR) or NOx trap catalysts are warm enough to remove

NOx. Reformer catalyst containing rhodium converts some

of the fuel into CO, CO2and H2 in reforming process. This

H2 is introduced into the engine alongside the fuel. This

helps combustion and can also reduce emissions of NOx

and particulate matter (PM). Three-way catalyst (TWC),

combination of platinum, palladium and rhodium, removes

hydrocarbons, CO and NOx and help in deodorisation of

the exhaust gases in motor vehicles (Millington & York,2012).

Exhaust Gas Recirulation (EGR) works by recirculating

some of the exhaust gas back into the engine. This reduces

the amount of NOx formed by lowering the temperature of

combustion. Various technologies used in India forcontrolling pollution are summarized in Table 2 (Kapoor,

2012)

Thus, the platinum group metals are increasingly important

as auto-catalysts for pollution control. They reduce the

pollutants in diesel exhaust by converting 30 to 40% of

particulates and 90% of hydrocarbons and carbon

monoxide into carbon dioxide and water vapour

respectively. They also convert over 90% of carbon

monoxide and oxides of nitrogen and hydrocarbons from

gasoline engines into less harmful carbon dioxide, nitrogen

and water vapour (VanLoon & Duffy, 2011).

Indian Government continues to apply increasingly stricter

emissions standards to cut in pollution per vehicle which is

needed to keep improving air quality. India has already

implemented Bharat IV emission standards in thirteen

cities and the number of cities will increase in future.

Clean air legislation results in catalytic converters being

fitted to petrol and diesel cars and heavy trucks. This has

and will continue to drive greater use of the catalytic

converter (Kapoor, 2012).

3.2. Smart Growth

The continued use of more and more cars by rapidly

increasing urban population is not sustainable given thecombination of environmental consequences of fossil-fuel

usage, congestion caused by use of more cars, potential

disruptions to fuel supplies etc (Chin, 2010).

To be more responsive to the changing needs and demands

of the citizens, the urban planning process must combine

environmental planning, transportation planning with land

use and spatial planning with socio-economic and financial

planning. Planning should concentrate growth in selective

city centres to avoid urban sprawl. Smart growth advocates

compact, transit-oriented, walk-to-work, bicycle-friendly

land use to the extent possible, including neighbourhood

schools, streets and amenities that are suitable foreveryone. Planning as per smart growth principle

Table 2. Emission Control Technologies used for Various Classes of Diesel Commercial Vehicles in India (Kapoor, 2012)

Emission Control Technology Used in India (2011)Diesel Commercial Vehicle Class Size (Tones)

EGR EGR+DOC EGR+DOC+DPF SCR

Light 3.5 to 7.5 Yes Yes Yes -

Medium 7.5 to 12 Yes Yes Yes Yes

Heavy >12 - - - Yes


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advocates mixed-use development with a range of housing

choices and focus on public transport. Such compact cities

are more efficient and sustainable than cities that are

sprawled over large areas (MHUPA, 2011).

4. Conclusions

This paper has reviewed the key policy and governance

challenge in India originated as a result of land use

changes resulting in urban sprawl. Air legislation standards

are getting stricter day by day to cut in pollution resulted

from urban spread out. As automobiles will be driven

by an increasing number of users who live in urban areas,

so stricter emission standards will increase the demand

of auto-catalysts used in catalytic converter. In summary,

this paper provides an important insight into possible

solutions for various problems resulting from the urbansprawl.

Acknowledgements

Author is greatly indebted to Dr Ashok K Chauhan,

founder President, Prof. B.P.Singh, Senior Director and

Prof. Rekha Agarwal, Director; Amity School of

Engineering & Technology for their continued guidance

and encouragement. He is thankful to Dr. Alok

Saklani, Prof. and Director of Apeejay School of

Management for his valuable guidance during the facultydevelopment course. He is also thankful to Ms Rachana

Nagal and Ms Neera Bhutani for language corrections.

A draft of this paper has been significantly

re-written and updated based on valuable reports from

unspecified referees, and their comments are gratefully

acknowledged.

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