Punjab Geographer Journal All Head Image

Arun K. Saraf: Is Winter Fog a Menace or Disaster?

The vast Indo-Gangetic Plains covering a large area south of the Himalayas in northern India is a zone, which is affected by dense fog and smog (smoke+fog) every year during winter, mostly in the months of December, January and February. The typical meteorological, environmental and prevailing topographic conditions and increasing pollution over the Indo-Gangetic Plains are the common factors favouring fog formation. In this study, the North Indian fog is mapped and analyzed using NOAA-AVHRR satellite data. The dissipation and migration pattern of fog in the study area is also interpreted on the basis of the analysis of both meteorological and satellite data. A classification of the fog-affected area is also performed and the more fog prone zones in the belt are identified.

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Tejpal: Monitoring Ecological Health of Dohan Watershed in Aravali Hills of Rajasthan and Haryana.

The present study aims to investigate the ecological health of the Dohan watershed which spreads across Haryana and Rajasthan states. Landsat 5 TM and Landsat 7 ETM+ imageries of 1989 and 2009 pertaining to the pre and post treatment periods of watershed has been used and analyzed. In order to examine the ecological changes both natural (vegetative index, water index, bare land index, moisture index, aridity index and standard precipitation index as climatic index) and anthropogenic (land use/ cover change) factors have been considered. The study reveals an increase in the area under cultivation, water bodies, plantation and tree cover and decrease in fallow land as a result of watershed management programmes. Interestingly, Rajasthan part of the watershed has sound ecological health due to community level watershed management practices, whereas Haryana part displayed relatively poor ecological health in the absence of such programmes.

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Animesh Roy: Changes in Land Utilization in West Bengal: District and C.D. Block Level Analysis.

This paper has examined the pattern of changes in land utilization over a period of three decades with a special focus on non-agricultural and cultivable land. The study is based on the available secondary data at C.D. Block and District level in West Bengal. Given the underlying extremely low share of barren and uncultivable land to total geographical area in the state, the present form of development activities viz. urbanization, housing colonies and infrastructure creation has emerged as a potential threat to agricultural land. A phenomenal change in land use pattern has been observed in different parts of the state. The study unveils a steady increase in share of area under non-agricultural uses across the districts in the state and majority of the C.D. Blocks in five districts (Howrah, Hugli, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas and Nadia) around Kolkata primarily at the expense of agricultural land. The net sown area is under great stress with a gradual declining trend. Although after mid 1990s the growth in area under non-agricultural land among the districts surrounding Kolkata has been higher than that of the non-adjacent districts, a contrasting scenario has been noticed in case of the C.D. Blocks surrounding Kolkata.

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Manish Kumar, D.K. Tripathi: Mapping Snow Cover from Landsat Tm Data Using Normalized Difference Snow Index in Alaknanda Watershed, Garhwal Himalaya, India.

In this paper efforts have been made to monitor and measure the snow cover in Alaknanda watershed, Garhwal Himalaya, India using Landsat TM data. Landsat satellite TM data of two different time periods, i.e., 1990 and 2010 were used to quantify the snow cover changes over a period of 20 years. Both images of study area were processed using Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) algorithm in ERDAS Imagine 9.3. ArcGIS 9.3 package was used to generate elevation and snow line information. The images of study area were classified into two classes, viz. snow cover and non-snow cover. The four sub-classes of snow cover i.e. frost, fine granular, medium granular and course granular were also mapped for the year 1990 and 2010. The results indicate that during the observation period, the snow cover decreased by 190 2km (27.10 %) and the snow line shifted upward from 5067 meters to 5275 meters (total 208 meters) at a rate of 20.80 meters per year. The study also reveals that, the area under frost and 2 2fine granular snow cover decreased by 66.03 km and 151.03 km , respectively, while medium 2 2granular and coarse granular snow cover area increased by 32.69 km and 0.86 km , respectively. The study highlights the usefulness of satellite data and NDSI techniques in snow cover mapping and monitoring. This research also attracts the attention towards the effect of global warming and need of sustainable watershed management in the study area.

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Prince Mohan, B. R. Thakur: Agricultural Development in Himachal Pradesh: A District Level Analysis.

The present paper aims at examining the levels of agricultural development in Himachal Pradesh. It also attempts to bring out the spatial variations in the levels of agricultural development during four triennium periods i.e. 1972-75, 1982-85, 1993-96 and 2003-06. The study is entirely based on secondary data collected from various published and unpublished records of the Directorates of Land Records, Horticulture, Agriculture and Census Operations, Himachal Pradesh. In order to examine the level of agricultural development in Himachal Pradesh a set of 11 indicators have been selected. As these indicators are of different nature and character, “z” score has been used to standardise them. On the basis of composite mean scores, the districts have been categorised into three classes-low, medium and high, which clearly shows the spatial pattern and level of agricultural development in Himachal Pradesh. The study brings out that even after lapse of three and half decades, a slight improvement has been observed in level of agricultural development in the state. The study reveals that districts having better and assured irrigation facilities, high cropping intensity, large share of net sown area, high application of bio-chemical inputs, large size of operational land holdings and high level of agricultural yield enjoyed high levels of agricultural development.

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Ram Juwari, M.S. Jaglan: Changing Composition of Livestock in Haryana: A Spatiotemporal Analysis.

The present paper evaluates the changing pattern of livestock composition and its growth pattern in Haryana. The study brings out that during last four decades the cattle rearing has been progressively marginalized in the state. Cows have been replaced by buffaloes which account for about 84 per cent of total livestock units. Ovine (sheep and goats) rearing has also been marginalized due to progression of green revolution and squeeze of grazing lands. But commercial poultry farming has picked up particularly, in north-eastern region and areas adjoining Delhi. The density of livestock units is high in the eastern and south-eastern parts of the state, the regions marked by wheat-rice cropping pattern and high intensity of cropping. The study also reveals that the state of Haryana has experienced livestock specialization as evident from increasing proportion of buffaloes during last four decades.

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Shamshad: Livelihood of Houseless Population: A Case Study of Kanpur City.

The present study attempts to analyse age structure, sex composition, literacy rate, educational and working status of houseless population in Kanpur city. The study is based on primary source of data generated through a comprehensive field survey in the city carried out during 2012. The study shows that most of the houseless population lies in young and mature working age-groups while a very little fraction is composed by the 0 to 14 years age-group as well as old population in the city. The rate of illiteracy among the houseless population is most prevalent as a little bit more than one-third houseless people are recorded literates. Among the literates, more than two-third have education only upto primary level. As a result, most of the houseless population is found to be un-skilled and, thus, engaged in casual petty works like rickshaw pulling, rag picking, street vending, loading and un-loading, begging, cobbling, construction works, etc. Most of the houseless population is of the rural migrants to the city and more than ninety per cent of which were males.

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Map Series-VII: R.C. Chandna: Urbanization in Punjab-Haryana Region, 2011.

The subsistence nature of Indian urbanization process (due to it being the product of mainly rural-urban migration) and lopsided nature of the country's urban system (due to it being embedded in growth of tertiary sector and neglect of secondary sector) notwithstanding, the post-Independence scenario of Indian urbanization process did make its dent on the country's demographic scene as its urban population base widened significantly from mere 62 million in 1951 to a lofty 377 million in 2011 registering a massive 600 % increase in six decades.

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