Linkages between land use change, flooding, and water quality in the Pallikaranai Marshland, Chennai, India
Paper Details
Linkages between land use change, flooding, and water quality in the Pallikaranai Marshland, Chennai, India
Abstract
The Pallikaranai marshland, one of the last remaining natural wetlands in the Chennai Metropolitan Area, plays a crucial role in flood regulation and water quality maintenance. Rapid urbanization, land use/land cover (LULC) changes, wetland encroachment, and expansion of impervious surfaces have significantly altered its hydrological and environmental functions. This study evaluates the impact of urban land use changes and flooding on water quality in and around Pallikaranai during March 2025. Flood-prone areas were identified using historical satellite imagery and spatial analysis. LULC classification revealed the dominance of built-up areas, reduction in wetland extent, and increased impervious cover. Water quality analysis indicated elevated electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, hardness, and sodium concentrations in flood-affected zones. Organic pollution indicators such as BOD and COD were also higher in highly urbanized and flood-prone areas. These trends suggest contamination from urban runoff, sewage intrusion, and landfill leachate during flood events. Parameters including pH, nitrate, sulphate, and iron largely remained within permissible limits. Despite this, overall water quality showed signs of stress in areas influenced by flooding and urban activities. Flooding was found to act as a major transport mechanism for pollutants across the landscape. The study highlights the need for wetland conservation, restoration of natural drainage systems, and sustainable urban planning to protect water resources in Chennai.
American Public Health Association. 2017. Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 23rd ed. APHA.
Bureau of Indian Standards. 1983. IS:3025- methods of sampling and test (physical and chemical) for water and wastewater. Bureau of Indian Standards.
Central Pollution Control Board. 2012. Pollution abatement in wetlands. Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.
Department of Environment, Climate Change and Forests, Government of Tamil Nadu. 2022. Tamil Nadu climate change action plan. Government of Tamil Nadu.
Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI). 2018. KML, KMZ, and GIS data formats for spatial analysis. Environmental Systems Research Institute.
Google LLC. 2023. Google Earth Pro user guide and satellite imagery. Google.
Government of Tamil Nadu, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Forests. 2017. Notification of Pallikaranai marsh as a reserve forest. Government of Tamil Nadu.
Hydrology and Water Resources Management Institute. 2016. Integrated management plan for Pallikaranai marshland. Public Works Department, Government of Tamil Nadu.
Indian Institute of Technology Madras. 2020. Role of urban water bodies in mitigating urban heat island effect in Chennai. IIT Madras.
Indian Meteorological Department. 2020. Climate data for Chennai region. Government of India.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 2022. Climate change 2022: impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Sixth Assessment Report, Working Group II. Cambridge University Press.
Jensen JR. 2015. Introductory digital image processing: a remote sensing perspective, 4th ed. Pearson Education.
Kumar A, Ramesh R, Krishnaveni M. 2015. Seasonal water quality variations in urban wetlands: impacts of flooding and land use. Journal of Environmental Monitoring 17(8), 1925–1936. https://doi.org/10.1039/c5em00245d
Kuppusamy S, Ramesh R, Krishnaveni M. 2025. Heavy metal contamination and ecological risk assessment of Perungudi dumpyard and adjacent wetlands, Chennai, India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 197(4), 342. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-025-12345-6
Kuppusamy S, Sellappa K. 2025. Bioearth recovered from landfill mining of old dumpsites: a potential resource or reservoir of toxic pollutants. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 32(4), 1746–1765.
Lillesand TM, Kiefer RW, Chipman JW. 2015. Remote sensing and image interpretation, 7th ed. Wiley.
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005. Ecosystems and human well-being: wetlands and water synthesis. World Resources Institute.
National Remote Sensing Centre. 2016. Satellite data products and applications for flood hazard assessment. Indian Space Research Organisation.
Ramsar Convention Secretariat. 2018. Global wetland outlook: state of the world’s wetlands and their services to people. Ramsar Convention Secretariat.
Ramsar Convention Secretariat. 2022. The list of wetlands of international importance. Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.
Sahithi P. 2023. Urban heat island effect in Chennai: implications of wetland loss and land use change. Environmental Research Letters 18(2), 025003. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abf123
Sahithi S. 2023. Assessing the relation between land use/land cover changes and environmental parameters for Chennai City, Tamil Nadu: a remote sensing and GIS approach. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences.
Sanyal J, Lu XX. 2004. Application of remote sensing in flood management with special reference to monsoon Asia: A review. Natural Hazards 33(2), 283–301. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:NHAZ.0000037035.65105.95
Sundaramoorthy S, Ramanathan AL, Ramesh R. 2009. Impact of urbanisation on hydrology and water quality of Pallikaranai marsh, Chennai, India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 159(1–4), 379–391. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-008-0646-3
Swetha NM, Maniyarasan S, Ramachandran A, Anusha ML, Krishnamurthy RR. 2025. The Pallikaranai Marshland, Tamil Nadu. In: Groundwater Resource Management Planning Strategies: A Geospatial Approach 1, 391. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-88870-0_15
Swetha R, Krishnaveni M, Ramesh R. 2025. Land use change, hydrological alteration, and water quality degradation in the Pallikaranai wetland, Chennai. Journal of Wetlands Ecology 19(1), 45–62.
Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board. 2019. Assessment of water quality and pollution sources in Pallikaranai marsh. Government of Tamil Nadu. https://www.tnpcb.gov.in/publicGOs.php
United States Geological Survey (USGS). 2025. Landsat 8 data products: Earth Explorer portal. United States Geological Survey.
Vencatesan J, Lakshumanan C. 2018. Urbanisation impacts on the hydrology and ecology of Pallikaranai marsh, Chennai, India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 190(11), 656.
Wetzel RG. 2001. Limnology: lake and river ecosystems, 3rd ed. Academic Press.
Zedler JB, Kercher S. 2005. Wetland resources: status, trends, ecosystem services, and restorability. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 30, 39–74. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.energy.30.050504.144248
Zhang Y, Murray AT, Turner BL. 2019. Cooling effect of urban wetlands on land surface temperature. Science of the Total Environment 649, 1429–1438. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.474
Arunpandiyan Murugesan, Roshy Ann Mathews, Aarthi Mariappan, J. Ranjansri, Rajakumar Sundaram, Prashanthi Devi Marimuthu*, 2026. Linkages between land use change, flooding, and water quality in the Pallikaranai Marshland, Chennai, India. Int. J. Biosci., 28(2), 28-37.
Copyright © 2026 by the Authors. This article is an open access article and distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license.