Land use changes in Agra-Mathura Region
Land use changes in Agra-Mathura
Keywords:
Agra, Agricultural area, Forest area, Land use, Mathura, Sand mining, WastelandsAbstract
Land use is the usage of land and its resources according to the need of human beings. The study area i.e., the Agra-Mathura region has the richest historical background which is traced from ancient as well as medieval Indian history. The study used data obtained from ‘Bhuvan Thematic Data dissemination’ The other sources of data are census reports, village records, land ownership reports, Forest department reports, and local Institutions, of the Agra and Mathura districts. To find out the changes in the area data generated from different sources has been compiled and analyzed by interpreting the data. There is an increasing trend in the land use of agriculture and built-up area and agriculture is dominant in the region. The “forests”, which include forests, non-agriculture plantations, open scrub, and deciduous, constitute 5.32 per cent, (390.2 sq. km). The “wastelands”, include gullied land, saline land, and barren, rocky, and scrubland, which constitutes 4.05 per cent, (297.34 sq km). The environmentally fragile areas such as the Yamuna and its surrounding area are affected by the dumping of garbage and illegal sand mining.
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