Urbanisation and changing waterscapes: A case study of New Town, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Landscapes have been the product of human intervention in nature. With increasing trends of urbanisation and rapid land conversion in both developed and developing countries there has been a rapid change in the land-use land cover pattern, resulting in large scale conversion of water bodies. To understand and analyse this problem, a study was conducted in the planned township of New Town, West Bengal, India, where satellite images have been derived for the years 1990, 2004, 2010, and 2016 to show the gradual change in the urban landscape and its effect on water bodies. Using the indices such as EBBI, NDWI, and change detection technique of classified images in Arc GIS 10.2.2, the paper emphasizes on the temporal change in built up area and its subsequent effect on the water bodies. An attempt has been made in this study to suggest measures for sustainable conservation of water bodies.