This study examines the environmental performance of Kota Municipal Area, Rajasthan widely recognised as India's 'coaching capital' — through the application of GIS-based methods and time-series satellite data. Kota has undergone a distinct form of urbanisation termed as ‘studentification’ driven by the migration of students due to the presence of the country’s most significant coaching institutes. Satellite imagery from Landsat 5 TM (2000) and Landsat 8 OLI (2020) were examined to measure the effects of this student-led urbanization in Kota city. Land Use Land Cover (LULC) classification by employing the IsoCluster Unsupervised algorithm and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) analysis were performed over the study period. The analysis reveal that Urban Built-up area grew by 44.2% (from 52 km² to 75 km²), while total vegetation cover shrank by 36.5% (from 91.32 km² to 57.95 km²). Dense Vegetation lost 43.8%. Scrubland dominates more than 75% of all buffer zones, and a proximity buffer analysis surrounding 12 major coaching institutes at 500m, 1km, and 2km radii indicated that the near environs of coaching institutes are defined by severely low vegetation cover. With important ramifications for the planning of urban green infrastructure in Kota and other developing educational cities in India, these findings demonstrate a measurable connection between student-fueled urbanisation and environmental deterioration.
Hussain et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
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