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Urban expansion alters Vizag's natural landscape
Visakhapatnam: The erstwhile combined Visakhapatnam district has undergone a dramatic transformation in its land use and land cover (LULC) over the past two decades, with rapid urbanisation and industrial expansion reshaping its landscape between 2000 and 2023.
A recent analysis by researchers from Vignan's Institute of Information Technology, Visakhapatnam, using supervised classification through ArcGIS, reveals significant shifts in key land categories.
In 2000, Visakhapatnam exhibited a relatively balanced LULC distribution. Agricultural land dominated, covering 37.42% of the area, followed closely by forest vegetation at 35.10%. Barren lands occupied 16.5%, while built-up areas stood at 7.98%.
Water bodies and industrial areas made up smaller proportions at 1.68% and 1.29% respectively.
By 2023, the urban fabric had visibly intensified. The built-up area surged to 18.7%, marking an 11.92% increase tied directly to population growth and the expanding demand for housing, commercial zones, and transport infrastructure. This rise was fuelled by new residential and commercial developments across the district.
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Industrial areas also grew substantially, climbing from 1.29% in 2000 to 10.3% in 2023 — a change associated with new pharmaceutical ventures and overall industrialisation in the wake of Andhra Pradesh's bifurcation.
This growth corresponds to a 7.54% expansion per lakh population, according to the study's estimates. At the same time, natural and agricultural areas saw notable reductions. Agricultural land dropped from 37.42% to 26.3%, reflecting steady encroachment driven by urban and industrial expansion.
Forest vegetation, despite a brief resurgence in 2020 due to post-cyclone restoration, decreased overall from 35.10% to 26.7%, with Cyclone Hudhud in 2015 contributing significantly to this decline.
Water bodies, essential for ecological balance, declined marginally from 1.68% to 1.4%.
This reduction is linked to industrial growth, land reclamation, and runoff-related degradation. Meanwhile, barren lands showed minimal change, inching up from 16.5% to 16.6%.
The study projects that population growth will continue to shape land dynamics through 2030, stressing the importance of geospatial monitoring tools like ArcGIS and methods like supervised classification to guide sustainable development.
Visakhapatnam's trajectory mirrors broader patterns in coastal urbanisation across India, where infrastructure progress often intersects with challenges in conserving vital ecosystems. The study was conducted by Brahmaiah Borigarla, Rajesh Adigarla, and Jyotheesh Alla from the Department of Civil Engineering at Vignan's Institute of Information Technology. The research report is titled "Land Use Land Cover Change Detection of Urban Area Using RS and GIS – A Case Study of Visakhapatnam District", published as Chapter 13 in the Proceedings of the International Conference on Engineering Materials and Sustainable Societal Development.
