Monitoring of Urban Land Use Land Cover Change and Itsconsequences on the Environment of Balaghat City

Urbanization is a key driver of land use and land cover (LULC) change, particularly in rapidly growing towns of developing countries. Balaghat City, located in Madhya Pradesh, has undergone significant transformation in recent decades due to population growth, mining activities, and infrastructural development. This study aims to monitor and analyze LULC changes in Balaghat from 2000 to 2024 using multi-temporal satellite data and geospatial techniques. Landsat and Sentinel satellite images were processed, and supervised classification with Random Forest algorithm was applied to identify five major land cover classes: built-up area, agriculture, vegetation, water bodies, and barren land. Indices such as NDVI, NDBI, and MNDWI were used to assess environmental consequences, while land surface temperature (LST) analysis helped evaluate the urban heat island effect. The results reveal that built-up areas increased more than 200% between 2000 and 2024, primarily at the expense of agricultural land and vegetation cover. Water bodies declined from 140 ha in 2000 to 95 ha in 2024, while vegetation cover reduced by nearly 170 ha. NDVI values indicated a gradual decline in vegetation health, whereas LST analysis showed a rise in mean surface temperature from 27.1°C in 2000 to 29.6°C in 2020. These changes confirm the emergence of urban heat islands and ecological stress in Balaghat. The findings highlight the urgent need for sustainable urban planning, protection of green spaces, and conservation of water bodies to mitigate environmental risks. The study demonstrates the usefulness of remote sensing and GIS for urban monitoring and provides a scientific basis for policy decisions to achieve balanced development in Balaghat City.