Land Use and Land Cover Changes and Their Impacts on Floods in Pampa River Basin in Kerala: A Remote Sensing Based Analysis

Abstract

The basin characteristics of Pampa River – the third largest river of the State of Kerala, flowing through the heart of central region of the State – has undergone tremendous variations in the recent past. Alternating cycles of recurring flood and drought has become a predominant feature of this river, which, once used to be a rich and sustainable source of water throughout the seasons and lifeline for a population. The rapid pace of urbanization, massive encroachment of river banks, deforestation, transition in the agricultural pattern etc transformed the land use pattern of this river basin. A large number of villages and densely populated regions on the bank of this river face the ravage of flood every year. In this context, this study attempts to evaluate the land use and land cover (LULC) changes occurred in Pampa river basin during the last decade i.e., 2001-2010, identify the human intervention factors as well as the possible impacts of these factors on the floods occurring in this river basin.