City institutes, German universities join hands for study on urbanisation

Changes in farming, food, soil, transport in B'luru periphery to be examined

A number of Bengaluru-based institutes such as the University of Agricultural Sciences-Bangalore (UAS-B), Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC) along with two German Universities - University of Goettingen and University of Kassel - will soon be embarking on a collaborative initiative to study the impacts of urbanisation in and around the periphery areas of Bengaluru.

“We will try and examine the effects of urbanisation on various aspects of life be it agriculture such as the changes from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture, changes in the ‘ecosystem services’ such as food and soil, changes in the modes of transport, to name a few,” said a professor from UAS-B who is part of the initiative.
The study will initially go on for a period of three years under 13 to 14 different sub-projects that will look at particular aspects. For instance, a team from ISEC will study the changing landscapes and topography in these areas due to urbanisation, besides various other factors.

Dr Sunil Nautiyal, professor, Centre for Ecological Economics and Natural Resources, ISEC who is part of the project, said: “As part of the study we will try and understand various dynamics of the changing landscapes and topography over a period of time using various techniques such as multispectral and hyperspectral remote sensing.”

Other institutes who will also be are part of the study are the Institute of Wood Science & Technology, the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, both in Bengaluru and the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), Thiruvananthapuram.

There was a time when Hebbal was considered as the outer limits of Bengaluru, however in a matter of a short time this has extended to places even further such as Yelahanka and Devanahalli affecting a number of households, according to the UAS professor. 
“Besides the soil and ecology of these areas, as many as 1,600 households will be part of the study,” he said.

Dr Alexander P Hansen, Chairman of the Board of DWIH (German House for Research and Innovation), New Delhi said that the study was the initiative of the DFG (German Research Foundation), the largest independent funding organisation for research in Germany. DFG is funding most the study with support from the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.

“The results of these studies can ultimately be used in various areas such as supply and demand of biomass resources from rural to urban ecosystems, urban landscape planning and help in the making of suitable policies,” said Dr Nautiyal.