Monitoring of Land Use and Land Cover Change Using Geoinformatics Techniques of Tosham Block; Haryana

This study analyses land use/ land cover changes in the Tosham block of Haryana between 1990 and 2025 using multi-temporal Landsat-5 and Landsat-8 satellite imagery. A supervised classification approach based on the Maximum Likelihood algorithm was implemented in QGIS to generate LULC maps and quantify spatio-temporal transformations in a heterogeneous semi-arid landscape. Results indicate a major restructuring of land use during the study period. In 1990, agriculture was the dominant class (31.4%), followed by sandy areas (28.9%) and fallow land (21.3%), while built-up land occupied only 3.4% of the total area. By 2025, agricultural land expanded markedly to 52.1% (an increase of 15,420.5 ha), and built-up land nearly doubled to 6.3% (an increase of 2,160.24 ha), reflecting agricultural intensification and growing urbanization. In contrast, fallow land decreased to 11.6% (−7,212 ha), sandy areas to 18.5% (−7,795 ha), and scrub land to 7.7% (−2,263.1 ha), indicating large-scale conversion of marginal and unused lands into cultivated and developed areas. Barren rocky terrain showed only minor change (−517.6 ha), whereas water bodies slightly increased (+206.96 ha), possibly due to improved water harvesting structures. The findings reveal strong anthropogenic influence on landscape transformation driven by irrigation development, population pressure, and infrastructure expansion. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of Landsat time-series data and GIS-based supervised classification for long-term LULC monitoring. It highlights the need for systematic land management strategies to balance agricultural growth and urban expansion with environmental conservation and sustainable resource use.