The paper, titled “Cauvery River: Land Use Dynamics Biodiversity & Hydrological Status” was published by scientists and researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.
Natural vegetation on nearly 12,850 sq. km of land in the Cauvery basin was lost in the 50 years between 1965 to 2016.
Karnataka has lost much more than any other State in the basin.
It accounts for three-fourths of the lost cover, while Tamil Nadu’s share is around one-fifth.
Natural vegetation cover went down by around 46% all these years.
The quantum of reduction of dense vegetation was 35% (6,123 sq. km) and that of degraded vegetation, 63% (6,727 sq. km).
The extent of area under irrigation rose from 6,556 sq. km in 1928 to 20,233 sq. km now.
In Karnataka, it was from 1,193 sq. km to 8,497 sq. km. Consequently, the water demand of the two States increased.