Development of Village Information System for Resource Planning Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques.

A case study of Raikholi Village, District Almora, Uttarakhand

Manish Kumar¹ and Uma Gole²*

¹NRDMS, Department of Geography, Kumaun University, SSJ Campus Almora-263601, Uttarakhand, India.

²School of Studies in Geography, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur. 492 010 (CG) India

ABSTRACT:

Resource planning is the most important and primary factor for carrying out developmental work in any country. This is particularly more imperative for our country where majority of the population live in villages. Raikholi village of district Almora, Uttarakhand should be drawn for micro level analysis. Now days, remote sensing and GIS are providing now tools for perfect planning and advanced ecosystem management. This paper examines the ease of remote sensing and GIS in mapping land cover of Raikholi village for the year 2001 and 2010 in Almora district of Uttarakhand. So with the help of Google imageries, elevation data of SRTM, Census of India 2001 data and field survey we acquire various data and through GIS software we prepare resource map to do perfect planning of this area. In short, this process helps in the development of village information science for resource planning.

KEYWORDS: GIS, Village Information System, Hydro informatics, Geoinformatics, Resource.

INTRODUCTION:

Village studies are one of the most efficient ways to understand the natural resources in rural areas and also help in identifying the socio-economic and institutional constraints faced by the rural population (Das Salil, 2010). Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) are now providing new tools for advanced ecosystem management. Over the past years, data from Earth sensing satellites has become vital in mapping the Earth’s features and infrastructures, managing natural resources and studying environmental change. The collection of remotely sensed data facilitates the synoptic analyses of Earth system function, patterning and change at local, regional and global scales over time; such data also provide an important link between intensive, localized ecological research and regional, national and international conservation and management of biological diversity (wilkil, D.S and Finn, J T. 1996). As we know 70% of population in India lives in village area. So, we need a very structured planning procedure to be used for the development activities and infrastructure facilities available in rural area (Baruah A, Ghosh N, and Krishnayya J G, 1998). Improvements in satellite remote sensing, global positioning systems and geographic information systems techniques in the past decade have greatly assisted the collection of land cover data and the integration of different data types (Star, J.L., J.E. Estes, and K.C. McGwire (1997).

Therefore, attempt will be made in this study to prepare a GIS based digital database resource maps of Raikholi village of Almora district in Uttarkhand for planning and resource management in the village level. The information being in digital form can be brought into a Geographical Information System (GIS) to provide a suitable platform for data analysis, update and retrieval.

METHODOLOGY:

The Study Area:

The Raikholi village (Fig.1) is situated in Hawalbagh Block of Almora District in Uttarakhand. It lies between 29⁰36′ 25.98″ N to 29⁰36′27.63″ N Latitudes and 79⁰38′53.54″ E to 79⁰38′55.26″ E longitudes. Encompassing an area of 173375m², it lies in the Lesser Himalayan terrain. The village is surrounded by Vikash Bhawan, Pandekhola and Power Plant.

Fig. 1: Location Map of the study area

The digital elevation model prepared for the village (Fig.2A) revealed that the Raikholi village is a typical hill village. Most of the village is covered by rugged terrain, surrounded by high hills. The northern part of the village is at the highest altitude. Altitudinal height of the village varies between 1260 and 1380 meters from the sea level. Altitudinal zones of village reveals that out of the total village area about 0.1% (144.30 m²) has uses very high relief i.e. 1360-1380 m, 8% area has high (1340-1360 m) relief, 50.7% area has medium (1300-1340 m) relief, 41.2% has low (1260-1300 m) In the western part of the village the slope is maximum.The slope of the village varies between 0º and 42º. The distribution of area under different slope zones (Fig.2B) which reveals that out of the total village area about 10.65% (18473.90 m²) has gentle slope i.e. 0º-6º, 36.31% area has moderate (6º-12º) slope, 45.76% area has moderate high (12º-16º) slope, 4.05% area has high (16º-21º) slope, 1.91% area has steep (21º-29º) slope and 1.32% has very steep (29º-42º) slope. Aspect (Fig.2C) of the area is that the maximum area (29%) of the village is inclined towards south direction.

Fig.2: (A) Digital Elevation Model (B) Slope Map (C) Aspect Map

Data Used

For the study of Raikholi village Google Earth images and SRTM data were downloaded. The Census data 2001 has been downloaded from census of India site. With the help of GPS and Field survey attibutes information has been collected for preparation and update of village Resource Map.

Methods:

In this work Google Earth images and SRTM data were used as remote sensing data which helped to prepare a terrain map and identify spatial distribution of features. Then the satellite image of Raikholi village was geo-referenced with the help of GCPs collected through GPS and the vectorization of spatial features was done by using ArcGIS 9 software. Then computer cartography equipped with better symbology, pictures, fronts, appropriate colour, choices and line types which helps to give a profesional look of the output maps of raikholi village was given.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION:

Land Informatics:

The main objective of the present study is to develop a village information system (VIP) providing complete information for decision-making based on their existing resources and capabilities. Land informatics includes the details of landuse and landcover (Fig.3A) of the village under study. Table 1 reveals that a large but 51.85% (90948.20 m² area) of the village is being used for cultivation of different crops like wheat, rice, pulses etc. while 23% area (39045.80 m²) falls under barren condition. Scattered tree and Forest both covers 20% area of the village. The remaining part of the village covered by scrub (4%), settlement (1%), temple (0.09%), canteen (0.04%) and panchayat ghar (0.02%).

Table 1: Distribution of area under different land use and land cover categories

Land use and Land cover Categories	Area
Land use and Land cover Categories	Sq mts.	Percentage
Settlement	2186.69	1
Agriculture Land	90948.20	51.85
Barren Land	39045.80	23
Forest	15403.10	9
Scattered Tree	19279.81	11
Scrub	6227.30	4
Canteen	81.30	0.04
Temple	156.80	0.09
Panchayat Ghar	46.00	0.02
Total	173375.00	100

Hydro Informatics:

The water resource map (Fig.3B) reveals that the village is poor in water resources. This village is having two water tanks and one tap. Both are the only water source of the Raikholi village, while the remaining natural water sources have almost dried up in Raikholi. They are also getting water through pipe lines. However this village is having a shortage of water and that is a big problem.

Household Informatics:

The objective of household informatics is to provide quick information about individual household. The total number of houses in the Raikholi village is 23 (Fig.3C) (Field Survey, 2010). But according to the Census of India 2001 data the total number of houses in the village was 22. It is seen that the total area of the village is 1% occupied with settlement. It mean the village is not expanding so much.

Development of village Resource Map:

This work concentrates on how village resource development planning can be done by involving villagers in planning as per the spirit of 73rd Amendment Act of the Indian constitution. For this purpose the study was divided into two parts. The first part includes development of the village resource maps (Fig.3D) involving the villagers and the attribute data created in the resource planning.

Fig.3: (A) Land use/Land cover map (B) Water Resource map (C) Settlement map (D) Village Resource map

Socio-Economic Informatics:

According to the field survey (Table 2) performed in 2010 the population of village is 135 in which male population is 65 and female is 70 but the population registered by the census of India in 2001 (Table 3) was 126. Total percentage of literate male and female is 50.5% and 49.5% respectively (Field Survey, 2010). This village is deprived from all kinds of educational and medical facilities (Census of India, 2001). Most of the villagers are working in a primary sector (agriculture) and a few villagers are working in government and private sector. Some of the villagers are unemployed and some of retired from services.

Table 2: Census Information according to field survey

Population	No. of Population	Percentage in Population	No. of Literate Population	Percentage in Literate Population
Male	65	48	51	50.5
Female	70	52	50	49.5
Total	135	100	101	100

Table 3: Census Information according to Census of India, 2001

Population	No. of Population	Percentage in Population
Male	59	46.82
Female	67	53.18
Total	126	100

CONCLUSION:

After going through the full exercise of village information date for 2001 and 2010, it appears that the condition of the Raikholi village is less than satisfactory. Indeed it has not developed so far. The reason behind this is twofold – lack of proper village resource map as well as lack of awareness of the villagers and grampanchayat. However with the help of GIS Technologies it is possible to make different resource map and find out many problem such as water scarcity, barren land problem, population problem and mass management of natural resources, of this village. Once the detail of the village Information available the same can be used by the government bodies to carry out proper planning for developing the village or a district, this way semote sensing and GIS and be put to use to develops the Village Information System for resource planning which in turn will help eventually in nation building as well.

REFERENCES:

1. Das Salil (2010), Village Information System (VIS) – A Web-GIS Based Application for Development Planning, 13^th Annual International Conference and Exhibition on Geospatial Information Technology and Applications.

2. Baruah A, Ghosh N, and Krishnayya J G, (1998), Methodology of Planning at the Gram Panchayat Level-Applications of GIS, Prepared for NIRD Hyderabad Workshop, pp. 1-14.

3. Star, J.L., J.E. Estes, and K.C. McGwire (1997), Integration of geographic information systems and remote sensing, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

4. Wilkie, D.S., and Finn, J.T. (1996), Remote Sensing Imagery for Natural Resources Monitoring, Columbia University Press, New York. p. 295.

Received on 30.08.2011

Modified on 25.09.2011

Accepted on 30.09.2011

Research J. Science and Tech. 3(5): Sept.-Oct. 2011: 247-250