Spatio-temporal assessment of waterbodies for sustainable sub-urban planning and development – A geo-informatics approach

Abstract

Due to the rapid urban and peri-urban growth, most of the industries and industrial colonies are developed in the lake catchment and polluting the lake water and its environment. Hence, it is an urgent need to assess the lake catchment using Geo-spatial tools for their sustainability. The Kolavai Lake of the Chennai City Sub-urban has been taken as a study area, where the water deterioration and encroachments are existence. Multi-dated satellite data has been used to study the Level-II land use/land cover classification of the catchment. About 7 water samples location has been chosen and samples were collected and analysed. The Water Quality Index (WQI) has been calculated and it is observed that the Kolavai Lake water is unsuitable for drinking because of WQI values exceeds 100. It is recommended that the catchment area to be taken in to a comprehensive ecological auditing and continuous monitoring of land use/land cover practices.