A Spatio-Temporal Analysis Of Land Use and Land Cover Changes in the Coastal Area Of Puducherry Municipality

The coastal region of Puducherry Municipality has experienced a tremendous land use and land cover (LULC) changes in the past 30 years due to the combined effects of the rapid urbanization and frequent natural disasters. The current research paper tries to examine the spatio-temporal dynamics of LULC changes based on multi-temporal satellite images of 1988, 1996, 2005, and 2018. Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques were used to process and interpret satellite images obtained through Landsat and other remotely sensed data. A controlled classification method was used to outline the key land cover categories including built-up area, vegetation, water bodies, barren land, beach area, and transportation networks. The comparative analysis shows that there is a significant rise in the built-up land, especially along the coastal strip, with a gradual decrease in the vegetation cover and open lands. The effects of significant natural disasters, including the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, the ensuing coastal erosion, storm surges, heavy monsoonal flooding, and Cyclone Thane (2011), which have dramatically changed the coastal landscape and shoreline structure, are also captured in the study. The land transformation in the 2005 and 2018 datasets after the disaster indicates the duality of the anthropogenic pressure and the natural processes in transforming the coastal environment of the municipality. The results highlight the growing susceptibility of the study region and the need to have sustainable land use planning and disaster resilient coastal management measures.