Impact of land use dynamics on stream flow: A case study in upper Bhima basin, Maharashtra, India

The process of urbanization and industrialization always have an impact on the hydrological regime and alternate land use pattern of the area. The present study is being carried out for the upper Bhima basin in western India. The basin has undergone various land use changes during last decade and before due to various anthropogenic activities. An object based image analysis approach along with rainfall and resulting stream flow records for last two decades (1985-2004) were analyzed to study the impact of land use on steam flow in the basin. The study revealed that rainfall pattern was nearly constant during study period, whereas a significant reduction in stream flow has been observed. Conversion of wasteland to agricultural land, construction of new dams/reservoirs in the high rainfall region, increase in domestic and industrial water demand are the major factors responsible for stream flow reduction in the basin.