Assessment of Land Degradation through Metal Abundances and Distribution in Soils from Different Land-uses in a megacity city in India

This work is an attempt to characterize soil in different land uses of Gurgaon, a megacity in India, which is under continuous degradation. The soil was analysed for various parameters like pH, TDS, organic matter, major oxides, and metals and its pollution status was analysed through various pollution indices and spatial distribution maps. The results indicate soil in the region in industrial, commercial and residential areas are more degraded as compared to their rural counterparts. The industrial pollution is limited due to controlled discharges but construction and vehicular activities have severely affected commercial and residential areas.