We thank Indian Space Research Organisation – Indian Institute of Science Space Technology Cell (ISRO – IISc – STC) for financial assistance to carry out field investigations and National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), Hyderabad for providing the satellite data required for the study. We are grateful to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India and Indian Institute of Science for infrastructure support. We are thankful to Mr. Joshua David for proof reading the manuscript and for suggestions.