Prioritization of Watersheds in Wular Catchment for Sustainable Development and Management of Natural Resources

Abstract

The resource development programmes are applied generally on watershed basis and thus prioritization is essential for proper planning and management of natural resources for sustainable development. The study area is situated in Sopore, Bandipore and Sonawari tehsils. It lies between 34°12′24.67″ and 34°36′26.26″ N latitude and 74°26′41.42″ and 74°56′02.90″E longitude. The present study is an attempt to carry out the prioritization on an integrated approach utilizing, land use/cover, drainage morphometry and socio-economic data. The indicators included in prioritization are man- land ratio, population growth, average annual fuel wood consumption, drainage density, forest cover, built up, barren land and agriculture.The prioritization is carried by assigning ranks to the individual indicators and a composite score is calculated. It is revealed from the study that eight watersheds fall under high priority zone, eight under medium and three under low priority zone. The Watershed 1EW2b has attained the highest priority level. The prioritized watersheds are in dire need of management and planning so that the problem of environment degradation in them can be addressed.