Figure 1

The Sindh stream is a major tributary of River Jhelum in Kashmir valley arising in the Zojila mountain, flows towards the West and augments itself with the streams coming down from mountains on left and right sides from Holy Amarnath, Kolahai and Panjtami snowfields. After flowing up to Ganderbal it spreads out near Harran and escapes into the Anchar lake, while the other merge with Jhelum at Shadipur. Sindh is a fast-flowing torrential river in its upper and middle reaches, while as in the lower reaches it becomes calm and flows slowly. The region has abundant water resources, including several large lakes, springs, and rivers, which are crucial for irrigation and other uses. The region also supports a wide variety of flora and fauna, and is home to several wildlife reserves and protected areas. The Sindh stream is a crucial part of the hydrological system in the Kashmir valley and plays a vital role in the region's water resources. Its fast-moving upper and middle portions, as well as its calm lower reaches, make it a unique and important feature of the region's geography. In recent years, Ganderbal has experienced rapid urbanization and development, with an increase in population and construction activity. This has led to increased pressure on the region's natural resources and its unique cultural heritage, and highlights the need for sustainable land use and development practices.

Land use Land cover (LULC) change is considered to be among the most massive and visible change of the earth’s surface. Land use land cover change has been evaluated worldwide. The rising trend of LULC change in the watersheds demonstrates the worldwide importance of economic considerations in driving principals for human land alteration. The land use land cover changes of various catchments of the Kashmir valley have been evaluated already. Most of the studies have shown LULC changes in almost all the catchments of the Kashmir valley. Transitions in LULU in the catchments of Kashmir are quite common from unirrigated system (Forests, Barren land) to irrigated system (agricultural and horticultural activities) due to enhanced crop production and economic gain43, 44, 45. Sindh Catchment has also registered a considerable land use land cover LULC change in almost all the category classes during the last 25 years across its length and breadth; however, the changes have been widespread within the selected areas of the study region because of newly created settlements. Although the area displays insignificant changes during 1995 to 2005 but the significant changes have occurred during the decade of 2005 to 2015. The observed land use trend is consistent with other catchments of Kashmir valley like Wular, Lolab and Sheshnag where habitation and cultivation were found to be dominant 5. The detailed land use and land cover changes within the study area during the reference time period (1995–2005–2015-2020) are illustrated in Figure and Table 1 respectively. The table and figure reveal that most the classes under consideration shows slight changes in the period from 1995 to 2005. However, significant changes in Land use and Land cover have been recorded in the decade of 2005-2015. The remaining period from 2015 to 2020 also registered slow changes in LULC in the study region. The maximum net change (675.98) was recorded in Shrub/Scrub classes followed by forest (-368.19), snow (-216.82), cropland (-123.05), grassland (41.52), and buildup (22.36) respectively (Table 1, Figure 1). The detailed analysis of all the land use categories are given below.

Figure 3

The net change in the build-up class shows an increase of 22.36 sq. kms from 1995 to 2020. Although the change was slightly negative (0.04) from 1995-2005 but the class registered 21.50 sq. kms change during the period of next 10 years i.e., from 2005-2015 and is still increasing. The positive change in build-up class can be attributed to the increasing population pressure which thereby forces the people for constructions of houses and other commercial establishments. The built-up area has primarily encroached on agricultural land and wetlands The rising built-up area, particularly along roadways and in peripheral zones, has a negative impact on the region's environmental quality. This tendency is also congruent with India's national situation, where 0.7 million hectares of agricultural land were lost to urban growth between 2001 and 2020).

Cropland forms one of the most important land use class in the study region as most of the population depends on agriculture for their source of livelihood. The crop land revealed a very high change of 123.05 sq. kms from 1995 to 2005 which means a decline of 54% of the agricultural land in the study region. Again, most of the change was observed during the period of 2005 to 2015. The drastic change in this class can be related to the significant shift in land use practices in the study area from rice to apple production between 1992 and 2015. Furthermore, at this time, a significant percentage of agricultural land was lost to built-up growth. The figures are consistent with earlier research undertaken in various areas of the Kashmir valley 41.

The area under forests revealed a significant drop in the Sindh watershed of the Kashmir valley. From 1995 to 2005, a loss of 109.19 sq. kms was recorded in the class and the decline almost increased to one and a half times during 2005-15. The table and figure reveals that decline in the forest cover continued till 2020 and the overall decline 368.19 sq. kms was recorded which is more than half of the total forest cover of 1995. Gull recorded a loss of 12.56 square kilometers from 2003 to 2013 in the Sind catchment. The decline in the forest cover can be attributed to illegal logging and loss of forests owing to political instability in the Kashmir valley. Large forest were completely wiped out particularly in the higher ranges during these two decades. However, with the efforts of government and non-government agencies, the destruction of forest cover was curbed and therefore witnessed a slight decrease from 2015-2020.

Grasslands were observed to be revealing two change patterns during the selected time period i.e., the area under grassland was 179.54 sq. kms in 1995 which increased to 303.03 sq. kms during 1995 to 2005 and then again decreased from 303.03 sq. kms to 222.88 sq. kms. The overall increase in the grass land was found to be about 41.52 sq. kms.

Shrubs are usually found in transition zones between forested and non-forested environments, taking up space mostly from forests and agricultural land. The table and figure reveals this LULC class has shown a significant change mostly in the time period of 2005-2015. The overall area under this class was 675.98 sq. kms in 2020 showing that the area has increased by 20 times since 1995.

The snow cover has lost 216.82 sq. kms of area during the reference period which is second highest decrease after forests in the study area. During 2005-15, more than 200 sq. kms were lost under this category hence showing the significant impact of climatic change and anthropogenic activities.

The area under water bodies was recorded as 7.28 sq. kms in 2020 hence showing a drastic decrease. More than 70% of the area under water bodies have lost during the reference period. Water bodies are the most stressed natural resource in the Kashmir valley due to changing climate and anthropogenic influences. The valley's lakes and rivers show considerable structural changes and loss of area as a result of extensive human involvement and oscillations in the water budget. Another key element contributing to the diminishing bathymetric features of water bodies in the study region has been the sediment load acquired from the feeder rivers. Furthermore, weak management techniques have led in pollution and deterioration of the health of these vital aquatic habitats.

Figure 4

Figure 5

The assessment of LULC dynamics is of vital importance in assessing the global and regional ecosystem changes. LULC changes depict the direct relationship between the man and his environment. In the present study, geospatial techniques have been used for assessing the LULC changes in Sind Catchment from 1995 to 2020. Results of the study revealed that the study area has experienced various changes in LULC during the past 25 years. Significant positive increasing change is seen in horticulture and built-up area with a decrease in agriculture, forest area and water bodies. Agriculture which forms the backbone of the study area is being transformed into horticulture and settlement area due to the increased demand of the population. Forest land has been cleared for timber and expansion of seasonal agricultural activities besides rendering large areas of forests barren. The majority of these LULC changes are unintentional, primarily the product of human activity, and have a variety of detrimental effects on the environment. The study found that geospatial techniques can be effectively utilized for assessing and monitoring of natural resources and aiding the land use planners for arriving at sustainable land use policies. The study recommended that construction activities of settlements should not be encouraged at the cost of valuable agricultural land. We anticipate that the findings of this study will aid decision-makers in understanding the scenario of changing land use and land cover and in developing an efficient and environmentally friendly land use policy for the Kashmir valley as a whole and Sind catchment in particular.

We would like to acknowledge the US Geological Survey (USGS) for dataset used to conduct this study.

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