Large scale changes in the land cover/land use have been effected by humans due to their technological prowess. The Himalayas contain a variety of fragile environments that could be vulnerable to these changes. This work attempted to analyse the change in landuse/land cover as an indicator of land degradation and increased risk of disasters using multi-temporal satellite imageries of LANDSAT and IRS for the period 1972–2005 in the western Himalayan district of Kullu which is a distinct geo-physiographic unit dominated by the river Beas. The area has undergone drastic land use/land cover changes in the last three decades. Land cover changes are manifested in terms of decreasing permanent snow cover areas and forest degradation with respect to decreasing forest density. Landuse changes are associated expansion, intensification and encroachment of horticulture and settlements on natural landscape. The latter are also responsible for increased vulnerability as most of the expansion has taken place in physically vulnerable areas especially in the proximity of rivers. Enhanced vulnerability in the face of natural disasters and associated damages become a distinct possibility in the light of these changes. The scenario is more worrisome for such a sensitive landscape which forms a part of a major river basin. In a situation of changing climate, these changes assume heightened importance.
Land Use/Land Cover Change, Himalayas, Remote Sensing, GIS
