Application of Remote Sensing & GIS Technology for Evaluation of Watershed Development Programme in Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh, India

Aim: This study was taken up to investigate the usefulness of Remote Sensing & GIS tools for evaluation of nine watershed projects implemented under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) project in Chittoor District of Andhra Pradesh. Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted by Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Department, Andhra Pradesh2009 to 2022. Methodology: High resolution data like Resourcesat-2, Linear Imaging and Self Scanning-IV (LISS-IV) of 2011 (pre-treatment) and 2016 (post-treatment) were used in this project to measure the changes in land use/land cover and biomass during project period (2011-16). Due to implementation of the watershed developmental activities, an additional area of 7093 ha has been brought under cultivation. Results: There is a significant reduction under fallow and degraded land area categories from 17922 ha to 11981 ha and 20064 ha to 15375 ha respectively, which is attributed to dense and open vegetation categories in 2016. The output of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index classification indicates the increase in dense vegetation from 2709 ha to 7428 ha, which indicates there is an improvement in open vegetation category due to the reclamation of fallow land. Conclusion: This study reveals that an additional area of 349 ha (18.02%) increased under water bodies and 231ha waste land converted to cultivable land due to construction of farm ponds, percolation tanks and check dams. This area is attributed to cropland and plantations.