Symposium on Remote Sensing for Resources Development and Environmental Management / Enschede / August 1986 
Thematic mapping from aerial photographs for Kandi Watershed 
and Area Development Project, Punjab (India) 
B.Didar Singh & Kanwarjit Singh 
Planning & Design St.Directorate (IB), Punjab, Chandigarh, India 
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Abstract; The authors have utilised the photo-interpretation techniques for the thematic mapping for geomor- 
phologioal, hydrological, geological - hydrogeological, soil system and forestry studies of the Kandi Area 
in the State of Punjab under the World Bank aided Kandi Watershed & Area Development Project. The Kandi area 
lying at the foot hill of Siwaliks in Hoshiarpur and Ropar districts is in an under developed state on account 
of increasing population pressure, farming and raising livestock on erodible slopes, widespread felling of 
trees and fuel and fodder, poor irrigation and other infrastructural facilities, coupled with illiteracy, 
economic and social backwardness has inflicted serious damage by bringing about an increasing rate of top 
soil erosion. In order to reverse this ecological degradation and to protect as well as develop the agricul 
tural and other infrastructural facilities in the area, the Govt, of Punjab with the assistance of British 
firms of Sir William Halcrow and Sir Murdoch Macdonald, prepared a detailed feasibility report for this project. 
The photo-interpretation techniques used in the present study proved to be very useful in exploration, moni 
toring and management aspects required for the developmental planning of an area. 
1 INTRODUCTION 
The Government of Punjab have long been aware of the 
growing damage being done to the land of Siwaliks in 
Punjab State, which borders the foothills of the 
Himalayan range. The Siwaliks in Punjab are mainly 
represented by the Upper Siwaliks formations of plei 
stocene to recent age and mainly composed of incohe 
rent material like boulders, pebbles, cobbles, sands, 
silt and clays and outcropped in the NW-SE direction 
(Pascoe 1964). A large number of ephemeral streams 
locally termed as Choes flow down from the Sub-moun 
tainous Zone of upper Siwaliks and immediately after 
a rainfall in the catchment area during the monsoon 
period, these streams swell into a flood. As the slope 
of the bed is steep, the velocity of flow becomes 
high and causes severe erosion of the soil cover. The 
flowing water charged with the heavy sediment load 
of the incoherent material of the catchment area, has 
a narrow course in the hills but as it reaches the 
plains, it spreads over a large area, deposits its 
sediment load to make the valuable fertile lands un 
productive. Besides this the increasing pressure of 
a growing population, farming and raising livestock 
on erodible slopes, has led to the extensive des 
truction of protective vegetation. Together with 
widespread felling of trees, over-intensive use of 
the land has brought about an increasing rate of top 
soil erosion, which is also inflicting serious and 
permanent damage to the agriculture of the area lying 
at the foot-hill of Siwaliks in Punjab State, locally 
termed as the Kandi Area. 
In order to alleviate these problems the Government 
of Punjab selected the Kandi area of Punjab State as 
the site of a World Bank aided project to base an 
extensive programme of development under a detailed 
and comprehensive plan called Kandi Watershed and 
Area Development Project. 
2 PRINCIPAL OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT 
The overall project plan is for the eventual improve 
ment and development of a total of about 1,50,000 
hectares of the Kandi tract lying in the State of 
Punjab. 
In the first phase work has been concentrated on 
eleven representative watersheds covering an area 
of about 30,000 hectares in Hoshiarpur and Ropar 
districts of Punjab. Individual watershed has been 
taken as the unit of development in the Kandi tract 
and has been broadly split into two sub-units i.e. 
upper catchments and Kandi plains. The potential of 
each of the two subunits has been studied in details 
for the following development programmes. 
2.1 Upper catchments 
I. Afforestation & reforestation 
2; Soil conservation measures-land levelling and 
terracing. 
3 Flood attenuation measures 
4 Water storage & erosion control works 
5 Minor irrigation schemes 
6 Fish culture-where possible 
7 Overall improvements to agriculture,horticulture 
and livestock of the area. 
8 Improvement of area's infrastructure like improved 
water supply and all weather roads. 
2.2 Plains of the Kandi Tract 
1 Surface irrigation schemes 
2 Groundwater irrigation schemes 
3 Flood protection measures and stream diversion 
works 
4 Canalisation of water-courses 
5 Groundwater recharge measures 
6 Overall improvements to agriculture & water manage 
ment 
7 Improvement of area's infrastructure like improved 
water supply and all weather roads. 
3 PROJECT ORGANISATION 
In order to give advice and assistance for the multi- 
developmental aspects of the project, it was decided 
by the Punjab Government to recruit a team of over 
seas consultants who would also supplement the exper 
tise of the local professional staff of the Punjab 
Government. In the year 1980, the British firms of 
Sir William Halcrow and Partners and Sir Murdoch 
Macdonald & Partners against their joint proposal.