Monitoring of Land Use/Land Cover Changes by the Application of GIS for Disposal of Solid Waste: A Case Study of Proposed Smart Cities in Bihar

Disposal of solid waste has turned into a severe issue in major urban areas in India nowadays. Most of the municipalities have failed to solve such a situation. A major statement of the issue is the normal sights of wastes that regularly undermine the streets closed due to traffic. The appearance of the cities along with the well-being of the people residing there is highly influenced by the risk presented by this situation. Waste disposal issues continue to rise due to improper collection of the waste and its processing/disposal following the rules in place. In some cases, the issue could be followed to absence of an appropriate site for transfer and treatment of these wastes. The solid waste disposal depends upon the selection of proper site and numerous other issues like sustainability and social acceptance. The objective of this paper is to show how GIS is utilized in finding a proper site for the disposal of wastes. It illustrates the spatio-temporal dynamics of land use/land cover changes of proposed smart cities of the state of Bihar namely Biharsharif, Patna, Muzaffarpur and Bhagalpur. These studies exhibit the current situation of solid waste management in these cities of Bihar although numerous components are necessary while choosing a site for proper disposal of municipal solid waste being generated, communication routes, land use/land cover and geomorphological changes. All these features have been consolidated in this study to choose the fundamental site that meets the specific conditions. In general, map layers are determined, and final outputs clearly indicate appropriate site for the disposal of solid waste. LANDSAT-TM and DEM images used in this study and their results are overlapped with the inferred layer of the built-up area and the final disposal site. It also provides comprehensive monitoring of key performance measurements, mainly due to the identification of factors connecting diagnostic and improvement steps. Based on the case study, a quality analysis could be carried out and its principles shown in the solid waste management (SWM) practice. The obtained results clearly show all the favourable locations that can be possibly used as the best suitable area for the proper disposal of solid waste being generated in these areas. It is therefore concluded that the performance assessment of SWM is an important element in ensuring compliance and implementing the sustainability strategy plan.