ABSTRACT
Management of land and water resources is especially necessary for sustainable improvement of living beings at a global level. The rising pressure of population, growth of urban areas and industries have put a vast stress on land and water resources, resulting in a reduction in agricultural area. The study was undertaken to map and manage waterlogged and high-salinity areas using geospatial technology. This technology has opened new vistas in the mapping of resources, temporal monitoring and their management. The study area is located in Central Haryana between 28°32' to 29°51' N latitude and 76°16' to 77°38' E longitude and is bowl-shaped. It occupies a total area of 4,491.03 km2 which includes the 1,515.57 km2 area of Rohtak, 1,485.62 km2 area of Sonipat, 1,013.49 km2 area of Jhajjar, 249.20 km2 area of Panipat, 143.79 km2 area of Jind and 53.36 km2 area of Bhiwani districts of Haryana. IRS LISS-IV, Carto-Sat-I and Radar Sat-II satellite data was used to generate the thematic layers. The elucidation and analysis of satellite images were completed adopting an on-screen interpretation method. Groundwater quality and groundwater depth maps were also generated based on chemical properties of water samples collected from different locations in the study area. Surface soil samples up to a depth of 30 cm were collected for physical-chemical analysis during field survey. It was observed that the total salt-affected area was 63.22 km2 out of which saline soil covers an area of 50.14 km2. Saline-sodic and sodic soils cover areas of 10.40 km2and 2.68 km2 which is 16.45 per cent and 4.22 per cent of the total salt-affected area, respectively. The area under seasonal waterlogging is 105.17 km2, that is 2.34 per cent, and the permanent waterlogged category has an area of 4.38 km2, that is 0.10 per cent of the total geographical area of the study area. The integration of various thematic maps such as soil, slope, land use and land cover, geomorphology, water quality and groundwater depth coupled with agro-climatic data was carried out, and a suitable combination of long-term practices has been recommended for overall sustainable development in the area. The prepared draft action plan on a 1:10,000 scale, showing site-specific sustainable action plan items, was discussed with concerned specialists from various institutes for their valuable suggestions. Those suggestions were critically discussed and the report was finalized.
