Land usage refers to surface exploitation of advanced and undeveloped land on a given point in time and location. The two most likely causes of this alteration are. First, a change in the usage of the land may be brought about by societal demands. Second, the effects of technology also encourage improvements that allow both individuals and society as a whole to benefit to their fullest. “Land use leads one back to the village farm and the farmer to the fields, garden, pastures, fallow land, forest and to the isolated farms lead as geography deals with spatial relationship between these aspects and planning (T.V. Freeman 1968)”. It is a result of the alteration in how the land is used to accommodate society's changing needs as a result of its new living arrangements. In the Western Uttar Pradesh region of Ghaziabad, a geographic analysis of the general land use pattern is shown for the years 2015 to 2020. Net area sown occupies 63.8% to 76.8% of the whole geographical area. Only the Ghaziabad Tehsil has been designated as having a forest.

1. To classify the general land use pattern in the study region; 

2. To look into the general land use pattern and its modifications in the study region.

Over the past few decades, the knowledge of land-use/land-cover change has evolved from simplicity to reality and complexity. Early studies focused mostly on the physical side of the shift, but later research agendas focused on global environmental change. Because of the alteration in land use and cover, scientists discovered that land surface processes affect climate. The influence of surface albedo on surface atmosphere energy exchanges, which in turn affect regional climate, was identified in the middle of the 1970s (Otterman, 1974; Charney and Stone, 1975; Sagan et al., 1979). The effects of changing land-use/cover on ecosystems, products, and services were further recognized across a much wider spectrum. Impacts on biotic diversity globally (Sala et al. 2000), soil degradation (Trimble and Crosson, 2000), and biological systems' capacity to meet human requirements (Vitousek, 1997; Praveen, B. 2017) are the main causes for worry.

In the past, people have altered the land to get the things they needed to survive, but this wasn't done at the same rate as it is now. At local, regional, and global levels, the recent high rate of extraction has resulted in previously unheard-of alterations in ecosystems and environmental processes. Currently, changes in land use and land cover include issues like climate change, the dwindling of biodiversity, and pollution of the air, soil, and water. Researchers and policy makers all over the globe now place a high focus on monitoring and mitigating the negative effects of land use/land cover change while maintaining the production of key resources (Erle and Pontius, 2007). Unsustainable human activities are a major environmental problem since they are degrading the water supply. The connection between land use and water quality aids in recognizing risks to rivers' water quality (Ding et al., 2015), and it also helps people comprehend how important cleanliness is to human existence (Parveen et al., 2015). 2017 (Praveen et al.).

Study Area

District Ghaziabad Between the Ganges and Yamuna, two major rivers of nation, and between 770 and 780 Eastern Longitude and 280 and 290 North latitudes, is situated on the western border of Uttar Pradesh. The district's borders meet those of Haryana and the Delhi region in the west, cross the Yamuna river in the east, and are located in Meerut and Baghpat in the north, Gautam Buddha Nagar and Bulandshahr in the south, and Hapur in the east. This district is rectangular in shape. The district's east-west and north-south boundaries are about equal. In the east, it stretches 40 kilometres at its longest. One of Uttar Pradesh's more developed districts, this one has excellent connections to the rest of the country through Delhi. Ghaziabad is referred to as the entrance to Uttar Pradesh due to its accessibility from Delhi, the main road of entry. According to the 2011 census, the Geographical Area of District Ghaziabad is 777.9 sq km. Ghaziabad's geography provides information on the city's location in Uttar Pradesh. River Hindon is around 1.5 kilometres away from it. Hindon, Ganga, and Yamuna are the three main rivers that pass through the Ghaziabad district. These three rivers are continuously filled with water throughout the year. Other than these principal rivers, there are a number of smaller rivers, the river Kali being the most noteworthy. It is basically a river that is nourished by rain. Additionally, the district uses water for irrigation from the Ganga Canal.

Existing Research on Land Use and Land Cover Change:

The majority of the terrestrial biosphere has been altered by human populations and land usage into anthropogenic biomes. This change has been important for more than 8000 years and has led to the emergence of several novel ecological patterns and processes (Ellis, 2011). Theobald, 2001; Verburg et al. 1999; Brown et al. 2000; Theobald, 2001). Recently, issues related to LULC change have drawn the attention of a wide range of researchers, from those who prefer modeling spatio-temporal patterns of land conversion to those who try to understand the causes, impacts, and consequences. Changes in the land cover have an impact on land usage, and the reverse is also true. However, a change in either is not always the effect of the other.

Even with the limitations imposed by physical circumstances, human activities that are primarily influenced by socioeconomic variables result in changes in both undeveloped and developed land (Long et al. 2007). A significant amount of the earth's land surface has undergone changes due to land use, including the conversion of one kind of land to another and the adjustment of land cover through land use management. The objective is to meet the urgent needs of humans with natural resources (Meyer and Turner, 1992; Vitousek et al., 1997). More than six billion people require access to food, fiber, water, and shelter, which is driving global changes to forests, farmlands, rivers, and air. In recent decades, croplands, pastures, plantations, and urban areas all across the world have increased. In addition to significant losses in biodiversity, this growth is accompanied by significant increases in energy, water, and fertilizer use (Foley et al. 2005).

Other than human influences can change the land cover. For instance, changes to the land cover may be triggered by natural occurrences including weather, flooding, fire, climatic swings, and ecological changes. Inadvertent effects of other human activities on land cover include acid rain from the burning of fossil fuels damaging forests and lakes and tropospheric ozone from automotive exhaust damaging crops close to cities (Meyer, 1995).

In a research conducted in the Shurugwi area of Zimbabwe's Midlands Province in 2010, Mark and Kudakwashe saw a rise in farmland. He credited the Land Reform and Resettlement Program for this rise. Large tracts of forest were removed for a variety of agricultural purposes, such as creating additional farming plots, obtaining fuel wood, and constructing dwellings and cow pens with poles. In Davangere city, Karnataka, India, the built-up area has nearly quadrupled in size between 1970 and 2005 at the expense of agricultural and scrub areas (Begum et al. 2010).

In Tamil Nadu's Kodaikanal taluk, Prakasam (2010) investigated land use/land cover change during a 40-year period. In this research, significant changes have been noted, including a rise in the amount of developed and harvested land and a reduction in the area of forest and water bodies. From 2001 to 2010, Javed and Khan (2012) examined how mining operations affected changes in land use and cover. The study found that although settlement, wasteland, and uncultivated land have expanded mostly as a result of anthropogenic activities, thick forest area, cultivated land, and water body have significantly decreased.

Aim

An analysis of the general land use pattern in the Ghaziabad District of UP from 2015 to 2020.

Fig. 1. Map of the Study Area's Location

Entire analysis is based on secondary data that was gathered from Ghaziabad district's statistical department for years between 2015 and 2020. District in general and Tehsils in particular are chosen for the current inquiry. The change in general land use in the Ghaziabad District has been evaluated using a straightforward statistical method.

Modifications to the general land use pattern in 2015-2020 [Table 1 to 5)

In Ghaziabad Tehsil, the proportion of total cultivable land decreased from 69.6% in 2015-2016 to 64.9% in 2019-2020. Fallow land as a proportion has increased from 2.3% in 2015–2016 to 8.4% in 2019–2020.  Other fallows as a percentage decreased from 5.3% in 2015–2016 to 3.8% in 2019–2020. The other categories don't alter from year to year. In the Modinagar Tehsil, from 2015–2016 to 2019–2020, total land under cultivation increased from 71.3% to 72.3%. From 3.5% in 2020–2015 to 0.6% in 2019–2020, the area that is currently fallow has reduced. The other fallows climbed from 1.7% in the 2015–2016 period to 2.6% in the 2019–2020 period. The percentage of Net Cultivated Areas in the Loni Tehsil climbed from 71.3 to 75.7 percent between 2015 and 2016 and 2019 and 2020. From 5.7% in 2015–2016 to 0.6% in 2019–2020, the areas that are currently fallow have declined. From 2.3% in 2015–2016 to 2.7% in 2019–2020, there was an increase in the other fallows. Other categories have remained unchanged over the years. From 76.5 percent in 2015–2017 to 70.6 percent in 2019–2020, the net cultivated lands in the Ghaziabad Tehsil have dropped. While the area designated as other fallows expanded from 0.5% in 2015-2016 to 3.5% in 2019-2020, the area designated as current fallows increased from 1.4% to 4.6% in those same years. Total land under cultivation in the Modinagar Tehsil decreased from 75.8% in 2010-2011 to 72.9% in 2014-2015. Between 2010-2011 and 2014-2015, the undercurrent fallows climbed from 1.7% to 2.9%, while the other fallows increased from 3.8% to 4.9%.  From 1.3% in 2015–2016 to 2% in 2019–2020, the percentage of different tree crops and groves has grown. The area falling under the current fallows category has not changed. From 7.9 percent in 2015–2016 to 6.4% in 2019–2020, the other fallows fell. In the Ghaziabad Tehsil, the percentage of total cultivated areas has dropped from 74.6% in 2015–2016 to 71.8% in 2019–2020. From 1.7% in 2015–2016 to 4.7% in 2019–2020, the percentage of different tree crops and groves has increased.

The study assesses the land use and its changes at the Tehsil level using a map that was created using a nine-fold categorization scheme in accordance with the NRSA's land use and land change classifications. The paper's main goal is to use secondary data from Ghaziabad district statistical office to look into the land use pattern and its changes in the Ghaziabad district of that city. The way that land is used and how it changes varies from place to place, and these aspects vary yearly. Data from the study period shows that the various groupings of net cultivated area have both an increasing and a declining tendency of current fallows and other fallows. Only in this Tehsil of Loni and Ghaziabad are there developing trends in various tree crops and grove land. In this district, there has been no notable change in the percentage of net sown area. 64% to 77% of the entire geographical area falls under the category of "Net area sown." Only the Ghaziabad Tehsil is identified as having a forest, unchanged. However, land uses are currently changing quite regularly. Therefore, this is a severe issue that requires quick attention in all agricultural sectors worldwide. Although the area under net cultivation has not changed significantly in the three Tehsils of the research region, there is a larger need to expand and upgrade the current irrigation facilities. Therefore, the government needs to act quickly to control the current circumstances and preserve agricultural areas. In this District, which is directly impacted by rainfall, there is relatively little forest space. The best solution for expanding the forest is forestation. Growing populations and climate change are the main causes.

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