Methodology for Rejuvenating the River Kousika in Coimbatore and Tiruppur Districts, Tamil Nadu, India with Gis and Rs Technology

Abstract

Water is central to our existence and vital to life as we know it. Our rivers are paying the price
of radical exploitation, climate change and an increasing demand for water. Increasing
dependence on groundwater has resulted in indiscriminate extraction without regard to the
recharging capacities of aquifers. Some rivers have even disappeared completely from our
maps. In this situation, river rejuvenation can help to improve water availability for domestic
and agricultural use as well benefit the ecosystem. River Kousika, a tributary of Noyyal, flows
on the northern periphery of Coimbatore and merges with Noyyal near Mangalam, Tiruppur.
Encroachment, urbanization, inadequate and improper water management has slowly lead the
river to a dying state. In this scenario, deriving a proper methodology with GIS and RS
technology will be valuable in effectively handling the crisis. Therefore, in this study, topo
sheets of 50-75 years old, time elapsed data for 25 years and satellite images of earth data
(NASA), Bhuvan (India) and Landuse/Cover maps were used.