in conjunction with water could be profitably and
sustainably exploited for agriculture or forestry or other
uses, consistent with land capability evaluation so as to
maintain ecological balance, provide protection against
soil loss and land degradation and deliver clean and
controlled tlow of water. Likewise, based on hydrologic
groupings of soils, appropriate water management
programmes would be identified not only to improve
water regime and water use, but also to protect the land
against water logging and salinization.
1.2 Prelude to Inventory
Each watershed has its own problems, potentials
and development needs, defined by a set of geo
physical, climatic, demographic and socio-economic
factors. It is necessary to have a broad idea about these
aspects prior to information generation, primary for
identifying the planning goals and deciding the
abstraction level of thematic mapping in each case. The
preparatory information is derived mainly from
literature, including the State and Central Government
Departmental reports and maps, as well as discussions
with the Divisional, District and Block authorities and
rapid traverses in the area. The information relates to :
Specific needs of the people
- Overall potential of the area
- General problems of the area
Availability of information
- Gaps in the information
Acceptability of the information
1.3 Planning Goals
Based on the preparatory information, the
following broad planning goals are addressed.
• Provide for basic needs of the people - water, fuel,
food and fodder.
• Develop and optimize primary production systems
and practices - Agriculture, forests, grasslands,
fruit and other economic plantations.
• Control of soil erosion/land degradation and
reclamation of degraded lands.
• Soil conservation, sediment control and runoff
moderation.
• Optimize production of minerals with proper plans
for rehabilitation of mined areas.
• Restore wastelands to their production potentials
consistent with land capability classification.
• Development and management of surface and
ground water resources.
• Optimize irrigation and management of agricultural
land.
• Promote animal husbandry, dairy development and
poultry.
• Industrial growth, environmental security and
improvement of socio-economic conditions.
2.0 DATA BASES
The data bases are meant to serve an efficient
system of information gathering, compiling, classifi
cation, transformation, storage, retrieval synthesis/
analysis and presentation. Data base comprises of spatial
information which are derived from remote sensing
satellite data and available maps as well as non spatial
information collected from different sources.
2.1 Remote Sensing and Collateral Data
(a) Remote Sensing Data
IRS L1SS-II, LISS-III and PAN data are exten
sively used for generating spatial data bases. Multi date
satellite data covering the whole watershed are
considered necessary to guard against any information
loss and improve data sensitivity.
(b) Collateral Data
The collateral data available with various agencies
are collected and attribute database has been established.
- Topographical maps
- Detailed soil survey maps and reports
- Vegetation map and reports
- Ground water map and reports
- Geological map and reports
- Socio-economic data
- Existing water and soil conservation practices
- Existing developmental schemes.
2.2 Base Map
Digital Cartographic Data Base (DCDB) with the
planning unit of a village and corresponding sub
watershed linkages is prepared by digitising the
watershed boundary and other cultural features from
topographical maps.
Masks of watershed, taluks, forests and cultural
features are generated. The district and tahsil masks are
used to extract data pertaining to these administrative
units from the classified image and hence are useful in
areal statistics generation.