Land Use Land Cover Change Detection using remote sensing Indices in Rasik Beel Wetland, West Bengal, India.

Abstract Land use and land cover changes are critical in understanding the dynamics of the environment and its impact on human livelihoods. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) are commonly used remote sensing techniques to detect the changes in LULC.Rasik Beel is a wetland and a popular eco-tourism destination located in the Koch Bihar district of West Bengal, which faced rapid alteration of LULC.This study aims to utilize GIS tools to detect the temporal changes in the pattern of Rasik Beel wetlands from 1991 to 2021 to promote sustainable resource management practices.The analysis reveals notable changes in land use and land cover (LULC) in Rasik Beel over the last 30 years, particularly the conversion of 1284.42 hectares of cropland to vegetation. Furthermore, the findings demonstrate that the water surface area in Rasik Beel has experienced fluctuations over time, with a significant decline in shallow water areas that have been transformed into non-water surfaces.Moreover, the findings could assist in sustainable resource management by providing the needed information.