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@article{208327,
        author = {Vaishali and Dr. Alok Kumar Bansal},
        title = {Impact of Urbanisation on Agricultural Land Use in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan: Socio-Economic and Environmental Implications},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {13},
        number = {4},
        pages = {1586-1594},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=208327},
        abstract = {In the most north-eastern part of the State, Sri Ganganagar is considered as one of the most agricultural productive districts of the State as the land of the district was turned into an intensive farm land after the canal irrigation. Concurrently, residential colonies, commercial buildings, roads, public buildings, agro-processing units and industrial estates have grown in the district headquarters, Sri Ganganagar town and in the smaller towns. In this paper, this process of urbanisation is analysed as an influence on the use of agricultural land and its socio-economic and environmental consequences are assessed. It takes a case-study approach to secondary data and adopts Census linked district profiles, Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) reports, agriculture land-use data and urban infrastructure and planning documents. The evidence presented indicates that urban expansion takes place in a district characterised by the economic value of cultivable land, its dependence on irrigation and its environmental fragility. The total geographical area is around 10.93 lakh ha. According to available district land-use data, the net sown area was approximately 7.70 lakh hectares in 2010–11, and the total cropped area was approximately 10.73 lakh hectares ((Central Ground Water Board [CGWB], 2013)). Another agricultural profile estimated that about 9.12 lakh hectares were cultivated and reported the gross cropped area as 10.54 lakh hectares with a cropping intensity of 145.4 per cent. These statistics take into account the significance of agriculture and variations from one reporting year to the next and changes in the classification of land use ((Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Sri Ganganagar, 2026).
The analysis reveals that urbanisation does not only lead to a decrease in the area of farms. It also reduces parcel size, increases land values, affects tenancy and labour relations, affects water demands, is a driver to peri-urban change in land use, and affects crop selection. Some outcomes are positive: better market access, opportunities to diversify into services and agro-processing, employment opportunities, improved education and health infrastructure and increased land values for some landowners. But these benefits are not universal. Conversion can result in small farmers and tenants losing land, or in landless labourers receiving little of the benefits in terms of capital gains. Environmental pressures also are very important. The district is already plagued by water logging, salinity and low quality of water in the canal command area. These vulnerabilities might be exacerbated by urban wastewater, leakage, impervious surfaces, and unplanned peripheral development if land-use planning, drainage, and sewage treatment don't match up. The paper suggests that Sri Ganganagar is in dire need of both land-and-water sensitive urbanisation approach: safeguarding high value irrigated farmland, compact urban growth planning, peri-urban zoning, transparent urban land conversion, drainage and wastewater management, and protection of livelihoods of farm households.},
        keywords = {Urbanisation, agricultural land use, peri-urbanisation, Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan, land conversion, canal irrigation, waterlogging, salinity, livelihoods and environmental planning.},
        month = {September},
        }