Degradation of wetland creates adverse impact on natural environment, ecosystem and on drainage congestion. The situation is more alarming in case of urban areas especially for detailed area plan (DAP) of Dhaka Considering the issues, the study has taken the initiative to rapid asses the Rate of Reduction of Wetland around DAP. Available satellite images from archive have been used to compare the areal extent and statistics of degradation of wetlands. Satellite images of 1967, 1977, 1989, 1999, 2009 and 2010 have been used for preparing permanent wetland maps. For permanent wetlands, images have been selected dated between January to March as permanent wetlands can only be identified in dry season. For finding the trend of changes of permanent wetland, images from Landsat2 MSS, Landsat4 TM, Landsat5 TM (all of 80 m resolution) and Corona Space photo Sensor (12 m resolution) have been acquired. From image, wetland is delineated by unsupervised classification method to get the real situation of DAP. The study shows that due to the unplanned rapid urbanization and increased population, permanent wetland is degrading. Study reveals that Permanent wetland has been reduced from 14% to 4% during 1967 to 2010.

degradation, satellite images, wetland, urbanization