ANNOUNCEMENTS
The National Capital Region of India, is one of India’s most urbanized and rapidly expanding regions, it is experiencing increasing pressure on its natural resources, and one of the major issues faced groundwater decline & the increasing anthropogenic threat. This study mainly focuses on the wetland of Okhla Bird Sanctuary and the district of Gautam Budh Nagar, situated along the Yamuna River floodplain—a region that is ecologically significant yet is suffering from an increasingly threat by urban encroachment, declining groundwater levels, growing population and deteriorating land cover. Using a geospatially integrated approach, the study aims to, delineate groundwater potential zones, evaluate land use/land cover (LULC) change impacts, get an idea about the local carbon sequestration and map the environmental threat susceptibility.
A set of key thematic layers—such as land use/land cover (LULC), annual average precipitation, topographic wetness index (TWI), soil type, geology of the region and elevation—were developed using the remote sensing and GIS methodologies to aid the local groundwater potential and the threat susceptibility examination. These layers were then compiled together using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), enabling weighted overlay analysis to delineate the spatial patterns of groundwater availability and environmental stress. Groundwater potential mapping reveals variability over time in the recharge zones.
Simultaneously, the threat susceptibility mapping (TSM) was conducted to outline the zones which are at highest risk of ecological degradation, and how the threat is highly expanding over the selected time period of past 20 years. The mapping describes the key factors driving the threat, focusing on the conversion of wetland and vegetative areas into impervious urban surfaces, conversion of vegetation covers into compact urbanscapes, and disrupted hydrological connectivity.
Furthermore, the Land use Land Cover analysis done over the past decades shows a significant decline in vegetative cover over the district, which has directly impacted the region’s carbon sequestration capacity. The diminishing presence of green spaces reduces the ability of the landscape to function as a carbon sink, exacerbating the effects of climate change at the local scale. The combined outcomes from TSM, GWP analysis, and carbon storage evaluation underline the urgent need for integrated sustainable urban land management around ecologically sensitive zones like Okhla.
This research in whole provides a decision-support framework for sustainable water management and ecological conservation around the Okhla Bird Sanctuary Wetland, calling for immediate interventions like wetland restoration, controlled urbanization, and policy integration for its absolute protection.
