Journal of Cleaner Production 238 (2019) 117872

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Journal of Cleaner Production

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Integration of GIS, AHP and TOPSIS in evaluating suitable locations for

industrial development: A case of Tehri Garhwal district, Uttarakhand,
India
Sakkeri Ramya a, *, V. Devadas b
a
Doctoral Research Scholar, Department of Architecture and Planning, Indian Institute of Technology e Roorkee, Roorkee, 247667, India
b
Professor, Department of Architecture and Planning, Indian Institute of Technology e Roorkee, Roorkee, 247667, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Stability in demography and economy of a region can be maintained by generating employment op-
Received 6 March 2019 portunities with due consideration of locally available resources would be the best initiative to ensure
Received in revised form and maintain sustainable development. The aim of the present study is to identify suitable locations for
17 June 2019
agro-based industrial use in Tehri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand State, India. Geographical Information
Accepted 1 August 2019
Available online 1 August 2019
System - GIS serves as an effective tool for identifying and monitoring the changes occurring in a specific
region, and its associated impact on ecosystems. Multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) techniques like
Handling Editor: Xin Tong Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution
(TOPSIS) provides structural and pairwise quantification, and comparison between elements, and criteria
Keywords: for priority ranking for industrial location purpose. Topographical features, soil characteristics, connec-
Sustainable development tivity, settlements, natural resources and their constraints, availability of raw material, labour availability,
Land suitability analysis location of barren lands, climate and vicinity of major functional centres are the parameters considered
Geographical information system in this study. Expert's opinions were consulted in determining the weights to the parameters and sub-
Multi-criteria decision making
sequently, the industrial land suitability map was generated. It was estimated that 0.06% (2.54 sq. km) of
AHP
the study area is highly suitable for establishing industries in general, 1.51% (59 sq. km) is moderately
TOPSIS
suitable, 2.34% (91.52 sq. km) is least suitable and 96.09% (3764 sq. km) is permanently unsuitable for
locating industries. In conclusion, this study highlighted the most suitable alternative/parcel through
priority ranking by using GIS e MCDM (AHP & TOPSIS) and is a cost-effective tool for decision making in
land-use planning and management.
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Land or earth surface is rationally steady and includes soils,
surface water, ground water, near-surface rocks, near surface at-
mospheric elements, plants, animals as well as manmade aspects
like settlements, agriculture, industries, etc. (Zolekar and Bhagat,
2015). Land elements help to determine its suitability for a partic-
ular use/purpose. However, land elements are often being overused
or exploited, which rise to various problems like water logging,
production losses, soil erosion, ground water depletion, etc. (Barah,
2010; Sepehri and Sarrafzadeh, 2018). Sustainable use/develop-
ment of land is recognized as one of the significant factors for
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: sramya@ar.iitr.ac.in (S. Ramya), valanfap@iitr.ernet.in
(V. Devadas).
economic growth (Akinci et al., 2013). Among the sectors, the in-
dustry can be viewed as the leading sector for economic develop-
ment in a region. Also, Literature suggests that there is a strong
correlation between industrial development and per capita income
(Mehta, 2019; Todaro and Smith, 2012; Weber and Friedrich, 1929).
Land suitability assessment (LSA) is considered as a prerequisite
for land-use planning and management (McDonald and Brown,
1984; Zolekar and Bhagat, 2015). Land suitability analysis de-
termines the given land area used for a specific purpose (agriculture,
industries, settlements, forest, etc.) and level of suitability
(Pourkhabbaz et al., 2014) employing different weights and criteria.
As there is no particular standard vis-a
-vis criteria while evaluating
the potential for industrial land suitability, and it is observed that
usually the criteria that are accessible are used in similar studies. In
these studies, majorly topographical features, soil characteristics, and
socio-economic conditions were commonly used. For instance,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.117872
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2 S. Ramya, V. Devadas / Journal of Cleaner Production 238 (2019) 117872
Fernando et al. (2015), uses seven sets of industrial zone/site selec-
tion criteria includes, land-use, soil type, water, wildlife, archaeo-
logical sites, roads and power lines for a case area in Colombo district,
Sri Lanka. Dinh and Duc (2012), used the parameters containing
economic indicators, social indicators, natural resources and the
environment in the evaluation of sustainable land-use management.
€
Akinci, Ozalp and Turgut (2013), reported that agriculture land use
suitability analysis involves analysis of land use capability classes, soil
groups, and topographical features. In addition to the aforemen-
tioned parameters, Muhsin et al. (2017), used nine criteria involving
connectivity factors, natural resources, topographical features in
analysing the suitable location for industries in suburban areas in
Bangladesh by ensuring the sustainability of agricultural lands.
There are many criteria to be considered together while
assessing the suitable locations for industries by ensuring the
sustainability of agriculture lands, as set forth above. It is well-
known that all the criteria/parameters considered will not have
similar significance, Tscheikner-Gratl et al. (2017), used various
methods/approaches in determining the weights for the criteria
and score for sub-criteria. There is now a well-established body of
literature on Land Suitability Analysis (LSA) by using Geographical
Information System (GIS) e Multi-criteria Decision making
(MCDM). The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method proposed
by Saaty (1980, 2008) is a recognized multi-criteria technique that
is incorporated into the GIS-based procedures for determining
suitability (Laskar, 2003; Pareta and Jain, 1992; Parry et al., 2018).
Pourkhabbaz, Javanmardi and Faraji Sabokbar (2014), used VIKOR-
AHP (Analytical Hierarchy process) in a GIS environment with the
aim of choosing the suitable locations for agricultural land use. In
another study in which GIS, AHP, and TOPSIS (Technique for Order
Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) were integrated, Dinh
and Duc (2012), developed a model for evaluating sustainable
land-use management. A spatial decision system was developed by
Mendas and Delali (2012), by combining GIS with ELECTRE Tri
(ELimitation Et Choix Tradu-isant la REalite ) for preparation of
agriculture suitability maps. Malczewski (2006), applied GIS-OWA
(Ordered weighted averaging) system for a real-world environ-
mental management problem and developed management strate-
gies in the Cedar Creek watershed in Ontario, Canada. Interestingly,
Drobne and Lisec (2009), also used this method for analyzing land-
use suitability. Although the use of MCDM for indistinctly assessing
the suitability of industrial sites is recognized, its adoption for
mapping the suitability of the agro-based industrial sites is lacking.
In addition, no studies have adopted the GIS, AHP and TOPSIS ap-
proaches involving locally available variables concerning socio-
economic conditions, natural resources, land use, etc., for identi-
fying agro-based industrial suitable sites.
The aim of this study was to identify the suitable locations for
establishing agro-based industries in Tehri Garhwal district,
Uttarakhand State, India. In this study, the combination of GIS-OWA
and MCDM (AHP & TOPSIS) are used, and further, an integrated
model was developed. This model follows a multi-criteria approach
to problems, by analyzing and ranking them in a hierarchical
structure. In this model, ArcGIS was used to analyze spatial data,
AHP to determine criteria weights, and TOPSIS method to assess
and rank the alternatives/selected parcels. The main reason for
selecting Tehri Garhwal district as a study area is the fact that the
district was part of Uttar Pradesh until it was carved out and
included in Uttarakhand on 9th November 2000, and it is observed
that a lot of changes occurred since then. The district was identified
as one of the 250 most backward districts of the country, which is
currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund
Programme (BRGF) of the Government of India (Ministry of
Panchayati Raj, 2009). According to Below Poverty Line (BPL)
census 2004, National Statistical Survey Organization identified
Tehri Garhwal district has maximum share of rural poverty among
other districts of Uttarakhand, i.e., 14.63 per cent. Also, as per the
BPL survey report (2011) obtained from the department of rural
development and poverty alleviation, as high as 44.4% of the total
population of the district is recorded under BPL category. According
to Census of India (2001), migration tables show that approxi-
mately 12% of district population experiencing out-migration for
various reasons such as employment, education and health facil-
ities, etc., resulting in a decrease of rural population growth rate
from 11.8% (2001) to 0.71% in (2011).
While most of the people of Tehri Garhwal district depend on
subsistence agriculture and natural resources for their livelihoods,
traditional agriculture alone cannot meet all their needs. Despite
this district have great diversity-biological, topographical, climate
and cultural-which gives it a relative advantage for niche products
and services, it is experiencing very less development of methods
used in collecting, processing and preparing finished market
products. These challenges act as barriers to the people, particularly
women and other marginalized groups in the district, to benefit
from their potential resources. Therefore, the present study is
focused to address the aforesaid challenges and generate employ-
ment opportunities within the district by identifying suitable lo-
cations for establishing agro-based industries without disturbing
their fragile ecology and environment, makes it a valuable study
and stands-out from other similar studies in the literature.
The rest of the paper is structured as follows: In section 2, the
study area is introduced, and the need for the study is established.
In detail, describes all the parameters used in the identification of
suitable agro-based industrial locations. Also, this section briefly
explains the approaches (AHP, TOPSIS, and GIS-OWA), list the
datasets used and the suggested methodology is described. Data
results and discussions are presented in section 3. Finally, the most
significant conclusions of the work are detailed out in section 4.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Study area
Tehri Garhwal district is a hill district located in the moun-
tainous region of Uttarakhand state and it is taken as a study area
(Fig. 1). The district is located between the north latitudes 33
0100
and 30
5300 and the east longitudes 77
5600 and 79
0400 . It is
surrounded by the Pauri Garhwal in the South, Uttarkashi in the
North, Dehradun in the West and Rudraprayag in the East. The
Climate in the district varies from cold temperate, tropical to sub-
tropical. The geographical area of the district is approx., 4000 sq.
km (Bhuvan LU/LC, 2011e12) and stands at an elevation of 899 m
above mean sea level. It falls under western Himalaya agro climatic/
physiographic zone with a total population of 6,18,931 as per 2011
census and population density of 170 inhabitants per square kilo-
meter (440/sq mi). The district is divided into 9 blocks having 1862
villages of which 87 are uninhabited, two municipalities and four
town area committees.
As per the Census of India, it is experiencing a decadal popula-
tion growth rate decrease by 14% between the years 1991e2001
(16.25%) and 2001e2011 (2.34%). Agriculture is considered as the
main occupation of the people in the district. Rice, sawan, barley,
maize, and wheat are the principal crops grown in the district.
Between the years 2012e13 and 2013e14, production (ha) and
yield (quintal per ha) has increased by 6.4% and 11.8% respectively
(District Economic and Statistics Office, Tehri Garhwal). Cereals,
pulses, oilseeds, fruits, and vegetables are the reliable source of
income for the people. They fulfil the need of the local and the
nearby cities/towns. Therefore, Tehri Garhwal district exhibits a lot
of potential for agro-based industries.
 S. Ramya, V. Devadas / Journal of Cleaner Production 238 (2019) 117872
Fig. 1. Location map of Tehri Garhwal district.
2.2. Parameters used in industrial land suitability analysis
2.2.1. Soil productivity (SP)
Soil productivity classes define the soil suitability for cultivation
in the Tehri district. In order to encourage sustainable agriculture
development in the district, an attempt is made to avoid the areas
with high soil productivity (Fig. 3) and encourage industrial de-
velopments in low or no productive soils. Approximately, 67% of the
total area is having least or no productive soil and 4% of total area
constituting high productive soil in the district (Table 1).
2.2.2. Elevation
The elevation is another significant factor that causes temper-
ature changes, particularly in highlands. The District is situated
almost in the Eastern part of Western Himalayas (Forest Survey of
India, 2001) with an average height of 899 m above the mean sea
level. The lowest elevation in the study area is found in the valley
where Bhagirathi, Bilangana and Alaknanda river flows. It is
observed that elevation rapidly increases from the valley slopes and
reaches values above 3000 m (Fig. 2). Also, it is observed that
elevation rapidly increases from the valley slopes and reaches
values above 3000 m. Despite 30% of the total land in the district is
over 3000 m elevation (Table 1), no settlements exist in that area.
2.2.3. Proximity to major roads (PMR)
District wise analysis indicates that Tehri Garhwal is having road
network equal to the State average. The district is well connected by
metalled roads namely Rishikesh-Devprayag road (NH-58) and
Narendranagar-Tehri-Ghanshali road (Fig. 5). A good road network
opens the backward regions to trade and investment and helps to
accelerate the economy. More the distance more would be the
transportation costs and production lead time. Thus, the buffer
zones in accordance with MoEF (Ministry of Environment and
Forest) standards were constructed having widths of 0e500 m,
501e1000 m, 1001e1500 m, 1501e2000m and >2000m (Table 1).
2.2.4. Proximity to local roads (PLR)
Industrial location is also preferred if the sites are connected to
3
major roads with local roads (Fig. 5). Therefore, the buffer zones
were constructed with widths of 51e100 m, 101e150 m, 151e200 m
and >200 m indicating the accessible distance to establish in-
dustries (Table 1).
2.2.5. Distance from agricultural land (DFA)
It is observed that majority of Tehri Garhwal district is under
forest cover (65.3%) followed by the land under cultivation (23.6%)
and land under non-agricultural use (5.8%), indicating that non-
forest area is primarily utilized for agricultural use. In order to
promote sustainable development of agriculture lands, the existing
agriculture land is left undisturbed and additionally, a buffer of
50 m around the agriculture land is restricted for any kind of in-
dustrial establishments to come up (Fig. 4). In this study, the
restrictive zone constitutes 32% and the remaining accounts for 68%
of the total area in the district (Table 1).
2.2.6. Distance from forest (DFF)
Forest reserves are not disturbed to ensure a balanced
ecosystem. Conserving forest area is on the top priority. In this
study, the restrictive zone, i.e., existing forest land and a buffer zone
of 50 m (Fig. 4) around it constitutes for 55% and remaining unre-
stricted zone accounts for 45% of the total area in the district
(Table 1).
2.2.7. Distance from glaciers (DFG)
Glaciers are considered as the valuable natural reservoirs of
water exerting strong control on drainage characteristics of
mountainous catchments (Jansson et al., 2003). As per regulations
of the Ministry of Environment and Forest, eco-sensitive zones are
to be conserved and distance of 25 km from these zones to be
maintained. Thus, industrial activities are restricted within a buffer
of 25 km on either side of the glaciers (Fig. 4). This constitutes only
6% of the total area and allowing rest 68% of the area is suitable for
industrial development (Table 1).
2.2.8. Distance from settlements (DFS)
Tehri Garhwal district is divided into 9 blocks having 1862 villages
4 S. Ramya, V. Devadas / Journal of Cleaner Production 238 (2019) 117872

Table 1
Area distribution of the criteria and sub-criteria parameters in Tehri Garhwal district.

Criteria Ws Sub-Criteria F/C Suitability Score* Area (sq.km) % Source

Soil Productivity 0.188 High Productivity C Not suitable 0 148.3 4% WRIS

Medium Productivity F Less suitable 3 339.8 9%
Low Productivity F Moderately suitable 5 793.0 20%
No Productivity F Most suitable 9 2635.9 67%
Elevation(m) 0.163 0e800 C Not suitable 0 299.8 8% DEM from SRTM
801e1200 F Most suitable 9 695.6 18%
1201e1600 F Moderately suitable 7 929.0 24%
1601e2000 F Less suitable 5 803.4 21%
>2000 F Suitable but avoided 1 1188.8 30%
Proximity to Major roads (m) 0.134 0e500 C Not suitable 0 580.2 15% GIS Cell- DSTO
501e1000 F Most suitable 9 392.4 10%
1001e1500 F Moderately suitable 7 315.9 8%
1601e2000 F Less suitable 5 255.6 7%
>2000 F Suitable but avoided 1 2372.9 61%
Proximity to Local roads(m) 0.103 0e50 C Not suitable 0 224.7 6%
51e100 F Most suitable 9 172.7 4%
101e150 F Moderately suitable 7 149.7 4%
151e200 F Less suitable 5 121.9 3%
>200 F Suitable but avoided 1 3247.9 83%
Distance from Agricultural land(m) 0.087 0e50 F Suitable but avoided 1 1267.9 32%
>50 F Most suitable 9 2649.1 68%
Distance from Forest (m) 0.071 0e50 F Suitable but avoided 1 2171.4 55%
>50 F Most suitable 9 1745.6 45%
Distance from Glaciers (m) 0.057 0e2500 C Not suitable 0 221.8 6%
>2500 F Most suitable 9 3695.2 94%
Distance from Settlements (m) 0.048 0e50 F Suitable but avoided 1 13.9 0.4%
>50 F Most suitable 9 3903.1 99.6%
Distance from Water bodies (m) 0.037 0e500 C Not suitable 0 44.6 1.1%
501e750 F Less suitable 1 17.1 0.4%
751e1000 F Moderately suitable 5 18.2 0.5%
>1000 F Most suitable 9 3837.1 98%
Distance from perennial rivers(m) 0.031 0e500 C Not suitable 0 1959.3 50%
501e750 F Less suitable 5 678.5 17%
751e1000 F Moderately suitable 7 461.1 12%
>1000 F Most suitable 9 818.1 21%
Distance from non perennial rivers(m) 0.028 0e100 C Not suitable 0 2181.6 56%
>100 F Most suitable 9 1735.4 44%
Slope 0.018 0e10 F Most suitable 9 196.3 5% DEM from SRTM
11e20 F Moderately suitable 7 668.0 17%
21e30 F Less suitable 5 1506.3 38%
>30 C Not suitable 0 1545.9 39%
Soil Depth (cm) 0.015 Moderately shallow to deep (>50 cm) F Most suitable 9 998.6 25% WRIS
Shallow (25e50 cm) F Moderately suitable 7 1099.9 28%
Very shallow (10e25 cm) F Less suitable 5 845.5 22%
Extremely Shallow (<10 cm) C Not suitable 0 973.0 25%
Aspect 0.012 1e22.5 C Not suitable 0 244.7 6% DEM from SRTM
22.5e112.5 F Most suitable 9 935.1 24%
112.5e157.5 F Moderately suitable 7 498.6 13%
157.5e292.5 F Less suitable 3 1587.8 41%
292.5e360 F Suitable but avoided 1 650.3 17%
Soil Texture 0.010 Medium Texture F Most suitable 7 1263.2 32% WRIS
Fine Texture F Moderately suitable 5 516.2 13%
Coarse Texture F Less suitable 3 798.9 20%
Rocky and Waterbodies C Not suitable 0 1338.7 34%

Note: * Scores are based on field observations, discussion with experts and previous studies.
Ws- Weights; F- Factor; C- Constraint.
WRIS- Water Resource Information System.
DEM- Digital Elevation Model.
SRTM- Shuttle Radar Topography Mission.
DSTO- District Economic and Statistics Office, Tehri Garhwal District.

of which 87 are uninhabited, two municipalities and four town area
committees (Chamba, Deoprayag, Kirtinagar, and Muni Ki Reti).
Settlements are considered as one of the most significant criteria and
there is a high possibility of them to get influenced by industrial
developments. However, a certain buffer distance from the settle-
ments helps to prevent environmental hazards. A buffer of 50 m is
provided around the settlements indicating as suitable areas but
avoided for industrial developments (Fig. 5). Almost all the area is
falling under the most suitable area with only 0.4% of the area being
under suitable but avoided area category in the district (Table 1).
2.2.9. Distance from water bodies (DFWB)
The entire district falling in “above ramganga confluence” sub-
basin and “Yamuna upper”sub-basin of Ganga basin represents
hill topography except for the occurrence of lakes. As per the reg-
ulations of the Ministry of environment and forests, 500 m distance
from water bodies on either side is considered as the restrictive
zone for any kind of industrial developments (Fig. 6). However, 98%
of the total area is observed to be most suitable to establish in-
dustries in the district (Table 1).
 S. Ramya, V. Devadas / Journal of Cleaner Production 238 (2019) 117872
Fig. 2. Topographical maps (slope, aspect, and elevation).
2.2.10. Distance from perennial rivers (DFPR)
Tehri Garhwal is surrounded by rivers. Bhagirathi river flows
from the North, Bilangana river flow from Northeast and meets at
Tehri as becoming Bhagirathi river. Further, this Bhagirathi river
meet Alaknanda that flows from East of the district meet at Dev-
prayag in the South. As per the regulations of the Ministry of
environment and forests, 500 m distance from rivers on either side
is considered as the restrictive zone for any kind of industrial de-
velopments (Fig. 6). Approximately, 50% of the total area is
observed to fall under this restrictive zone (Table 1) and with
around 21%, 12% and 17% of the total area considered as the “most
suitable”, “moderately suitable’ and “less suitable” respectively.
2.2.11. Distance from non-perennial rivers (DFNPR)
The district is drained by major rivers (Bhagirathi, Alaknanda,
and Bilangana), several seasonal streams and rivulets (locally called
gadhera). Thus, 0e100 m buffer zone is restricted from any de-
velopments (Fig. 6) and the rest of the area as “suitable”. Approx-
imately 55% of the total area falls under the restricted zone
(Table 1).
5
2.2.12. Slope
The slope is an important landscape metric and considered as
basic criteria for land suitability analysis. The slope in the Tehri
Garhwal district range between 0 and 820 per cent and it is
observed that the maximum of village settlements falls in the range
0 and 20 per cent slope and very few villages are falling under the
range of 20 and 40 per cent slope. Approximately, 80% of the land in
the district is having slopes more than 20% (Table 1). That is, nearly
the entire area is included in the very steep class category (Fig. 2).
2.2.13. Soil depth (SD)
A major part of the district constitutes of Lesser Himalaya soil
and broadly subdivided into three soil types, i.e., Dystric Eutru-
depts, Lithic Udorthents, Typic Udorthents. In the district, 25% of
the total land falls under moderately shallow to deep soil category
(Table 1) with a depth greater than 50 cm is considered as most
suitable for construction purposes (Fig. 3).
2.2.14. Aspect
Aspect is the compass direction that a slope faces, and it is
6 S. Ramya, V. Devadas / Journal of Cleaner Production 238 (2019) 117872
Fig. 3. Soil productivity, depth and texture maps.
important to consider as it has a significant influence on the local
climate. For this purpose, aspect (Fig. 2) is considered as one of the
criteria's in the assessment. It was determined that 77% of Tehri
Garhwal district have no issue pertaining to receiving sunlight
(Table 1).
2.2.15. Soil texture (ST)
Soil texture (Fig. 3) is a classification instrument used to deter-
mine soil classes based on their physical texture, both in field and
laboratory. Thus, areas with medium texture are more preferred
over fine, Rocky and water bodies, and coarse texture. Area of 32%
of land falls under the most suitable category with medium texture
soil (Table 1).
2.3. Data sets and methodology
A preliminary survey was conducted in which local people and
public representatives were consulted in understanding the prob-
lems within the district. A major problem identified from the
discussion/s, i.e., lack job opportunities in the district, which results
into increase in out-migration and a decrease in the standard of
living. This scenario is having an impact on the overall economic
growth of the district. Further, efforts are made to eradicate the
aforesaid problem, met officials and reviewed reports from various
departments of Tehri Garhwal district and subsequently, the need
has been established to identify the potential areas for agro-based
industries in the study area. The steps involved in this study are
presented in Fig. 7.
Literature study relating to concepts of sustainable agriculture,
land-use planning, economic development and location-allocation
studies (Aburas et al., 2017; Emerick, 2018) helped to identify the
effective indices/datasets required, tools to be used, and the ap-
proaches to follow in identification of potential areas for estab-
lishing agro-based industries. In addition, guidelines given by
different ministries of India were reviewed and literature on suit-
ability analysis was used during the criteria evaluation stage. In this
study, the data related to both spatial and non-spatial indices have
been collected. The data concerning the topographical parameters
 S. Ramya, V. Devadas / Journal of Cleaner Production 238 (2019) 117872
Fig. 4. Agricultural land, forest land and glaciers map used in the study.
are obtained from SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission). In
application, Digital elevation model (DEM) was first prepared using
ArcGIS 10.6.1 software with a 30  30 cell size, and the elevation,
aspect and slope maps are generated. Maps used in understanding
the characteristic properties of soil like productivity, depth, and
texture are developed by WRIS (Water Resource Information Sys-
tem) and are obtained from the Department of Agriculture, Tehri
Garhwal District. Data concerning present agriculture land, forest
land, and glacier map are generated by using land use/land cover
map and maps related to majors-local roads, settlements, water
bodies, perennial and non-perennial river are generated from
Transportation map, village map, reservoir map, and river map
respectively, and are obtained from GIS Cell - District Economic and
Statistics Office of Tehri Garhwal District (Table 1).
Multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) models are considered
as the potential tools because of the inheritability to judge various
alternatives and help to analyze complex real-time problems. Also,
MCDM techniques have wide application in GIS-based suitability
analysis (Akinci et al., 2013; Johar et al., 2013; Malczewski, 2004;
Muhsin et al., 2017; Rikalovic et al., 2014). In this study, GIS-MCDM
7
models have been employed, such as AHP, GIS-OWA and TOPSIS.
The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), developed by (Saaty,
1980), is an appropriate tool that helps to organize and analyze
complex decisions by using hierarchical principle. Once the prob-
lem is set on the hierarchical structure, the weights for different
criteria forming the hierarchy are computed (Akinci et al., 2013) by
creating pairwise comparison matrix M (n x n real matrix) where n
is the number of evaluation criteria/elements. The judgments
involved in the pairwise comparison matrix was developed by
accessing the opinions of experts/stakeholders (faculty from the
department of agriculture, social sciences, hydrology, and local
agronomists) through survey, which was carried out by using the
schedule to evaluate the criteria's and score each of the criteria.
Once the weights are calculated, the GIS-OWA procedure was
initiated.
Ordered weighted averaging (OWA), developed by (Yager, 1988)
is primarily concerned with the problem of aggregating multi-
criteria to form an overall decision function and developed the
fuzzy set theory concept. OWA is based on two principles (Drobne
and Lisec, 2009): one is criterion importance weights, that are
8 S. Ramya, V. Devadas / Journal of Cleaner Production 238 (2019) 117872
Fig. 5. Major roads, local roads and settlements map.
assigned to a given criteria or attribute for all locations in a study
area based on the decision makers preference by taking set of
criteria into consideration and other is ordered weights, it is asso-
ciated with the criterion values on a location-to-location basis in
decreasing order with no consideration of the attribute source of
each value. The operations involved in the OWA methods were
discussed by Malczewski (2006) and Mendas and Delali (2012).
This approach requires the criterion maps to be represented in
standardized criterion maps using the spatial data that were ob-
tained from various sources (Table 1). For this purpose, raster
calculation is done using Arc GIS 10.6 software and the maps are
generated, which were used for further analysis. Moreover, the
standard component of GIS-OWA in these standardized quantita-
tive and qualitative criterion maps are provided by the linear
transformation and pairwise comparison procedures respectively.
The weight component of GIS-OWA includes three methods
namely: ranking, rating and pairwise comparisons that are used in
assigning the weight to criterion maps. Regardless of the method,
the resulting criterion weight should represent the rate at which
the decision maker is willing to trade-off one criterion to another.
Once the criteria weights and ordered weights are computed, the
GIS-OWA combines the weights and criteria maps (Malczewski,
2006). The resulting map shows the locations that are highly
suitable, moderately suitable and least suitable for establishing
industries in general within the study area. Further, parcels of land
are selected from the highly suitable zone based on site area (as a
constraint), i.e., not less than 15 ha of land, by using selection by
attribute tool in ArcGIS 10.6 software. These parcels of the land
identified by using GIS and AHP based OWA are considered as the
alternatives available for which the further analysis is carried out
using TOPSIS method, to prioritize the identified alternatives for
establishing agro-based industries.
Hwang and Yoon (1981) developed a Technique for Order
Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). It uses distance
principle to assess/rank the alternatives based on the degree of
adequacy, and is popularly used in solving various decision-making
problems. The main concept of TOPSIS include both the distance to
positive ideal solution (shortest geometric distance) and negative
ideal solution (longest positive distance), i.e., displaced ideal point
from compromise solution is considered simultaneously and the
 S. Ramya, V. Devadas / Journal of Cleaner Production 238 (2019) 117872 9

Fig. 6. Perennial rivers, non-perennial rivers, and water bodies map.

final ranking is done by using closeness index (Fig. 8). The non e
spatial data used in this method are labour availability, growth rate,
xij
availability of raw material (includes food grains, pulses, oilseeds rij ¼ sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi; i ¼ 1; 2; 3:::::::; m; j ¼ 1; 2; 3:::::::; n;
and others-vegetables/fruits), traffic infrastructure, percentage of Pm
x2ij
land located in barren areas, climate, and distance from state capital i¼1
city, urban centre, district headquarters, railway station (Table 4).
Data was obtained from district economic and statistics office of
Tehri Garhwal district and data on the percentage of barren land 3. Constructing the weighted normalised matrix by assigning a
located within the identified parcel is calculated by overlapping the weight vector to the attribute group.
land use/land cover map showing barren land on industrial land
suitability map. The process inside TOPSIS include (Dinh and Duc,
2012; Dong, 2016): Vij ¼ wj rij ; i ¼ 1; 2; 3:::::::; m; j ¼ 1; 2; 3:::::::; n;

1. Constructing decision matrix (Xmn)ij containing i alternatives

4. Determine positive (Aþ) and negative ideal solution (A)
and j criteria, with the integration of each criterion and alter-
native given as Xmn
2. Using normalization method to normalize the decision matrix   þ      
Aþ ¼ vþ þ
1 ; ::::; vn ; v ¼ max vij ; j2J; min vij ; j2J 0
    
A ¼ fv0 1 ; ::::; v0 n g; v0 ¼ min vij ; j2J; max vij ; j2J 0
10 S. Ramya, V. Devadas / Journal of Cleaner Production 238 (2019) 117872

Fig. 7. Procedure followed in identifying suitable locations for establishing agro-based industries.

5. Calculate the separation measure from both positive (Sþ

i ) and The final feature map showing the agro-based industrial zones
negative (S
i ) ideal alternative. is then exported to Google Earth Pro to verify the recommended
five most suitable sites for establishing agro-based industries
vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (Fig. 10). The five individual parcels have an area of 68, 44, 17, 16 and
uX
u n  2
39 ha respectively. In conclusion, these areas are mostly barren/
Sþ
i ¼t vij  vþ j ; i ¼ 1; 2::::; m;
vacant land, with good physical connectivity through major or
j¼1
vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi minor road, and not within agriculture land or restrictive zones in
uX
 u n  2 pursuant to legal regulations in India.
Si ¼ t vij  v0 j ; i ¼ 1; 2::::; m;
j¼1

3. Results and discussion

6. Relative closeness to the ideal solution is calculated.
Industrial location suitability analysis is a complex process for
analysts, entrepreneurs, etc. because it not only involves technical
S requirements, but also economic, social and environmental de-
C *i ¼ i
; 0 < C *i < 1
Sþ
i þ S
i
mands that may result in conflicting objectives. Geographic Infor-
mation System (GIS) and an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) based
on the ordered weighted averaging (OWA) technique has been used
7. Preference order is ranked, the larger the index value, better in this study to combine the weights and criteria maps and further,
would be the performance of the alternative, which also means to rank the alternatives TOPSIS method has been used (Malczewski,
more C *i value close to 1 the better. 2006). However, each suffers from serious shortcomings such as
 S. Ramya, V. Devadas / Journal of Cleaner Production 238 (2019) 117872
Fig. 8. Steps involved in the selection of most suitable parcels/sites.
AHP involves judgements driven by the human emotions that are
obscure and the experts may not be able to fix the numerical
qualities to the examination judgements, GIS lack tools that help
calculate the weights based on expert's judgements, and lastly,
TOPSIS uses euclidean distance and not consider the correlation of
attributes. Therefore, these are integrated (not used alone) in this
study to reach an optimum solution unlike the existing studies on
suitability assessments for industrial locations (Section 1).
In this study, the suitability maps for industrial location were
derived from the criteria maps, and are correlated to the findings of
the AHP, based on the comparative significance of every criterion
that was evaluated. A pairwise comparison matrix M (n x n real
matrix) is developed to determine the weights of the criteria by
using the AHP method (Saaty, 1980) (Table 2). Each entry mij of
matrix M represents the importance of the ith criterion relative to
the jth criterion. If mij>1, mij<1 and mij ¼ 1, then the relationship
between the ith and jth criterions is more important, less important
and same importance respectively. The relative importance scoring
is made by utilizing the numerical preference scale from 1 to 9
(Saaty, 1980). The pairwise comparison matrix includes n (n-1)/2
number of comparisons for n numbers of elements (Muhsin et al.,
2017). Once the matrix M is created, a normalised pairwise com-
parison matric Mnorm is derived by dividing the element of each
matrix with the sum of each column resulting in a sum of entries on
each column equal to 1. Later, sum the obtained row elements, and
divide the total value by a number of elements in the row. In this
way, the weight vector w is calculated. The weights are to be in the
11
range of 0e1 and their sum equal to 1 (Akinci et al., 2013; Sahoo
et al., 2018; Zolekar and Bhagat, 2015).
During pairwise comparisons of criteria, some consistencies
may typically arise i. e, judgements driven by the human emotions
that are obscure and the experts may not be able to fix the nu-
merical qualities to the examination judgements. However, AHP
method incorporates an effective technique for checking the logical
consistency in pairwise comparisons. Consistency index (Saaty,
1980) is obtained by computing scalar x as the average of the ele-
ments of a vector whose ith element is the ratio of the ith element
of the vector M*w to the corresponding elements of the vector w.
Then, CI is equal to (x-n)/(n-1). Saaty proposed upper limit for
consistency ratio as 0.1. In the present study, consistency ratio was
calculated as 0.0593, less than 0.1, indicating that the in-
consistencies are tolerable and the analysis can be taken forward.
Also, sub-parameters were scored between 0 and 9 using an ex-
pert's opinion survey (Table 1). In this scoring, maximum points
were given for the sub-parameters (Section 2.2) that would posi-
tively affect the location decision of industry and at the same time,
not compromising on the sustainable development of agriculture in
the study area. For instance, when evaluating soil productivity
parameter, areas with no soil productivity are considered as “most
suitable” with a score of “9” and areas with soil having low pro-
ductivity, medium productivity and high productivity were
considered as “moderately suitable”, “less suitable” and “not suit-
able” with scores “5”, “3” and “0” respectively. Similarly, the rest of
the sub-parameters were evaluated by using the scoring method
(detailed out in Table 1).
The industrial location suitability map generated using GIS-
OWA approach, determines that, while 96.09% (3764 sq. km) of
the Tehri Garhwal district is permanently unsuitable for estab-
lishing industries in general, 2.34% (91.52 sq. km) is least suitable,
1.51% (59 sq. km) is moderately suitable and 0.06% (2.54 sq. km) is
highly suitable for locating industries (Table 3). As industrial ac-
tivities are restricted in forest and agriculture land in pursuant to
legal actions, a suitability map is developed, as shown in Fig. 9.
Agricultural land, forest land, likely inundated areas and lack of
effective connectivity to major and local roads of the study area
were significant factors, resulting in a low rate of highly suitable
industrial land in the district.
The polygons with an area not less than 15 ha are considered as
alternatives for establishing agro-based industries, which are
further evaluated based on the degree of adequacy using the TOPSIS
method. The decision matrix-TOPSIS consists of 5 alternatives and
10 criteria (Table 4). The criteria/parameters considered for TOPSIS
method are: labour availability, raw material availability, growth
rate, traffic infrastructure, percentage of land located in barren
land, climate, and distance from state capital city, urban centre,
district headquarters, railway station bearing variable weights of
0.13, 0.14, 0.11, 0.09, 0.04, 0.08, 0.06, 0.16, 0.12 and 0.07 respectively.
The input values for the variables have been extracted from the
district annual statistical handbooks of the Tehri Garhwal district
(2011e16). Based on the normalised matrix shown in Table 4,
calculated the positive ideal solution, negative ideal solution and
rank of preferred orders Ci* in descending order respectively with a
ranking from 1 to 5. According to Dinh and Duc (2012), if Ci*  0.7
then highly suitable (S1); 0.55 < Ci*<0.7: Moderately suitable (S2);
0.4  Ci*<0.55: marginally suitable (S3); 0  Ci* <0.4: none suitable
(N). The selected five parcels (16 ha, 17 ha, 44 ha, 68 ha, and 39 ha)
for locating agro-based industries are having Ci* values like 0.562,
0.344,0.303,0.764 and 0.641 representing first and last as moder-
ately suitable, second and third as not suitable, and fourth as a most
suitable parcel, respectively. The identified parcels are of area 16 ha,
17 ha, 44 ha, 68 ha, and 39 ha, belongs to, Bilangana, Chamba,
Jhaknidhar, Kirtinagar and Devprayag blocks respectively.
12 S. Ramya, V. Devadas / Journal of Cleaner Production 238 (2019) 117872

Table 2
Pairwise comparison matrix.

Criteria SP ELEVATION PMR PLR DFA DFF DFG DFS DFWB DFPR DFNPR SLOPE SD ASPECT ST Weights

SP 1 2 2 2 3 5 5 5 5 7 7 8 8 9 9 0.188
ELEVATION 0.50 1 2 2 3 4 5 5 5 7 7 7 8 8 9 0.163
PMR 0.50 0.50 1 2 2 3 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 8 0.134
PLR 0.50 0.50 0.50 1 2 2 3 3 4 5 5 5 6 7 8 0.103
DFA 0.33 0.33 0.50 0.50 1 2 2 3 3 5 5 6 7 7 7 0.087
DFF 0.20 0.25 0.33 0.50 0.50 1 2 3 3 3 5 5 6 7 7 0.071
DFG 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.33 0.50 0.50 1 2 2 3 4 5 6 6 6 0.057
DFS 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.33 0.33 0.33 0.50 1 2 2 3 5 5 6 6 0.048
DFWB 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.25 0.33 0.33 0.50 0.50 1 2 2 3 3 5 6 0.037
DFPR 0.14 0.14 0.17 0.20 0.20 0.33 0.33 0.50 0.50 1 2 3 3 5 5 0.031
DFNPR 0.14 0.14 0.17 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.25 0.33 0.50 0.50 1 3 3 5 5 0.028
SLOPE 0.13 0.14 0.17 0.20 0.17 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.33 0.33 0.33 1 2 2 3 0.018
SD 0.13 0.13 0.14 0.17 0.14 0.17 0.17 0.20 0.33 0.33 0.33 0.50 1 2 3 0.015
ASPECT 0.11 0.13 0.14 0.14 0.14 0.14 0.17 0.17 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.50 0.50 1 2 0.012
ST 0.11 0.11 0.13 0.13 0.14 0.14 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.20 0.20 0.33 0.33 0.50 1 0.010

Note: Refer Section 2.2 for acronyms.

Consistency index (CI) ¼ (l max -n)/(n-1) ¼ 0.0944.
Where, n ¼ 15; Max. eigenvalue (l max) ¼ 16.3223.
Random index (RI) ¼ 1.59.
Consistency ratio ¼ CI/RI ¼ 0.059.

Table 3 land use within these areas have changed subsequently to settle-
Area and percentage distribution of the study area based on suitability degree. ments and barren land.
Suitability Area (sq.km) % The applied methodology determines the given land area for
Not suitable 3764 96.09
industrial use and its level of suitability to ensure sustainable use of
Least suitable 91.52 2.34 land for economic growth. Furthermore, focused on reducing the
Moderately suitable 59.00 1.51 rural poverty percentage within the district by generating
Most suitable 2.54 0.06 employment opportunities in the agro-based industrial sector. The
Total 3917 100
obtained results help the development of industrial land use (lo-
cations for collections, processing and preparing finish market
products) in most suitable locations in the district, to effectively
The industrial suitable zones (feature map) within the study solve the unemployment, stagnant rural economy and out-
area is exported to Google Earth Pro for verifying the selected zones migration by supporting industrial economy by transforming into
using the satellite image. These five most potential sites for dynamic economy.
establishing industrial zones were mostly located near to either
major or local roads; are not located within agriculture lands or
inundated zones. However, the images shown in Fig. 10 are the 4. Conclusion
parcels of land that are slightly corrected to avoid errors that are
due to the deviations occurred because of base vector layers of The aim of the study was to determine the suitable locations for
agriculture land and forest land not being updated after 2017. The establishing agro-based industries in Tehri Garhwal District,

Table 4
The Final evaluation and ranking of alternatives.

Normalised Decision Matrix

S.no Area Block Variables

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 16 Bilangana 0.579 0.525 0.620 0.673 0.405 0.253 0.541 0.323 0.477 0.135
2 17 Chamba 0.316 0.023 0.273 0.326 0.270 0.750 0.531 0.364 0.251 0.405
3 44 Jhaknidhar 0.490 0.343 0.501 0.470 0.135 0.532 0.292 0.324 0.502 0.270
4 68 Kirtinagar 0.479 0.560 0.481 0.206 0.674 0.226 0.424 0.578 0.452 0.539
5 39 Devprayag 0.309 0.540 0.241 0.421 0.539 0.199 0.401 0.570 0.502 0.674
Weights 0.04 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.11 0.13 0.14 0.16 0.12

Normalised values * weights ¼ Weighted Normalised Decision Matrix Sþ

i S¡
i Ci Rank

S.no Variables

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.04 0.03 0.07 0.05 0.08 0.02 0.10 0.12 0.56 3
2 0.01 0.00 0.02 0.03 0.02 0.08 0.07 0.05 0.04 0.05 0.13 0.07 0.34 4
3 0.02 0.02 0.04 0.04 0.01 0.06 0.04 0.05 0.08 0.03 0.13 0.05 0.30 5
4 0.02 0.03 0.03 0.02 0.06 0.02 0.06 0.08 0.07 0.06 0.04 0.14 0.76 1
5 0.01 0.03 0.02 0.03 0.05 0.02 0.05 0.08 0.08 0.08 0.06 0.12 0.64 2
Aþ 0.01 0.00 0.02 0.02 0.06 0.03 0.07 0.08 0.08 0.08
A- 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.01 0.08 0.04 0.05 0.04 0.02

Variables used: (1)State Capital_Dehradun; (2)District Head quarters_Tehri; (3)Railway station_Rishikesh; (4)Urban center_Narendranagar/Srinagar; (5)Traffic infrastructure;
(6)Growth rate; (7)Labour Availability; (8)Availability of raw material; (9)Percentage of land located in a barren land; (10)Climate.
 S. Ramya, V. Devadas / Journal of Cleaner Production 238 (2019) 117872 13

Fig. 9. Industrial location suitability map of Tehri Garhwal district.

Fig. 10. Five most suitable areas identified in the study area (Source: Google Earth Pro, 10/11/2018).
14 S. Ramya, V. Devadas / Journal of Cleaner Production 238 (2019) 117872
Uttarakhand State. The integrated model of GIS, AHP and TOPSIS
create a useful tool for evaluating the industrial land use suitable
locations. This process follows a multi-criteria approach to prob-
lems, further analyze and rank them in a hierarchical structure. In
this model ArcGIS is used to analyze spatial data, AHP is used to
determine criteria weights, and TOPSIS was used to assess and rank
the alternatives/selected parcels. At the end of analysis using GIS-
AHP, it was observed that part of merely 4% of the study area is
suitable for the industrial location in general. According to the re-
sults of OWA and application of area constraint (not less than 15 ha)
on identified suitable industrial locations, five potential sites with
an area of 16 ha, 17 ha, 44 ha, 68 ha and 39 ha respectively have
been selected for establishing agro-based industries in the district,
which were further assessed and ranked into suitable classes using
TOPSIS. Later, the selected zones were overlapped on google earth
pro and verified using satellite image. However, the obtained re-
sults are case specific (Tehri Garhwal district) and cannot be
generalised to other regions. Henceforth, the evaluation results are
appropriate for the local practice, and therefore can be used for
sustainable industrial land use management of Tehri Garhwal dis-
trict by involving district government to be a facilitator and help
attract investment in the private sector & under the Public Private
Partnership (PPP) mode; To develop high quality infrastructure
which increases the productivity of capital, and simultaneously,
reduces the cost of production and marketing; To promote value
addition from resources (variety of seeds of flowers and vegetables,
fruits, herbs and spices that are grown in the hills) while promoting
agro-based & food processing industries in the Tehri Garhwal dis-
trict. In conclusion, the present study is suitable and essential for
development of hill system at grass root level.
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding
agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Acknowledgment
I would like to thank all the reviewers for their valuable sug-
gestions/comments that helped to improve the quality of the paper.
I would like to thank Ms. Sonika I.A.S (District Collector, Tehri
Garhwal district) and all the associated officials/departments of the
district for extending their support during data collection and
compilation stages. Also, I would like to thank the Indian Institute
of Technology, Roorkee for providing necessary resources in doing
this study.
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