Geoinformatics for Industrial Siting – A Case Study of Puruliya District, West Bengal

Abstract

Industrialization is one of the fundamental pre-conditions for the development of civilization. The strength of a country’s economy is judged by the level of development of its manufacturing industries. Industries have a major role in the utilization of resources as they transform these resources into more valuable goods, generate more wealth and raise income levels thereby contributing to the economic development of a country. On the flip side, industries release toxic pollutants and wastes that have adverse effects on the environment. The planned development of industries in India has succeeded to the extent that the nation has been able to diversify her industrial base and is able to produce a wide range of products. But industrial expansion and siting has not always been carried out in a sustainable manner. This is more so in case of areas such as forests and settlements that are particularly susceptible to adverse environmental impacts than others. The present paper is a part of the project “ Spatial Environmental Planning Programme” (SEPP) sponsored by the Central Pollution Control Board, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India. In this paper an attempt has been made to find out suitable locations for industrial siting in Puruliya district, West Bengal. This may be considered as baseline geospatial information for the identification of suitable industrial sites that take into consideration the interrelationship between anthropogenic development and biophysical environment. The present study is based on information derived from various physico-environmental parameters and different theme maps have been used for this purpose. The subtraction method has been used to find out suitable locations for siting of industries following Central Pollution Control Board guidelines. The analysis has been carried out in Arc-GIS software using various geo-processing techniques. Eight industrial siting zones have been identified in Puruliya district that are suitable to a particular type of industry. The analysis reveals that there is a possibility of setting up high air and high water polluting industries (Z4Wh) throughout the district while high air and medium water polluting industries (Z4Wm) can come up along the right bank of the Damodar River in the eastern part of the district.