Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

River Bank Erosion Hazard Study of River Ganga, Upstream of Farakka Barrage Using Remote Sensing and GIS

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Our National River Ganga

Abstract

This work has been carried out to analyze and report the river bank erosion hazard due to morphometric change of the Ganga River in the upstream of Farakka Barrage upto Rajmahal. Morphometric parameters, such as, Sinuosity, Braidedness Index and percentage of the island area to the total river reach area were measured for the year of 1955, 1977, 1990, 2001, 2003 and 2005 from LANDSAT and Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) images. The analysis shows that there is a drastic increase in all of those parameters over the period of time. This study has found that bank failure is because of certain factors like, soil stratification of the river bank, presence of hard rocky area (Rajmahal), high load of sediment and difficulty of dredging and construction of Farakka Barrage as an obstruction to the natural river flow. For the increasing sinuosity, the river has been engulfing the large areas of left bank every year. The victims are mostly Manikchak and Kaliachak-II blocks of Malda district, with a loss of around 1,670 ha agricultural land since 1977. Temporal shift measurements for the river reach between Farakka and Rajmahal has been done with help of 22 cross-sections in this reach. Erosion impact area has also been estimated to emphasize the devastating nature of the hazard.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Hickin EJ (1983) River channel changes: retrospect and prospect. Special Publications of International Association of Sedimentologists, 6, pp 61–83

    Google Scholar 

  2. Milton EJ, Gilvear DJ, Hooper ID (1995) Investigating change in fluvial systems using remotely sensed data. In: Gurnell A, Petts G (eds) Changing river channels. Wiley, New York, pp 276–301

    Google Scholar 

  3. Petts GE (1995) Changing river channels: the geographical tradition. In: Gurnell A, Petts G (eds) Changing river channels. Wiley, New York, pp 1–23

    Google Scholar 

  4. Yang X, Damen CJM, Zuidam AR (1999) Satellite remote sensing and GIS for the analysis of channel migration changes in the active Yellow River Delta, China. Int J Appl Earth Obs Geoinf 1(2):146–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Hickin EJ, Nanson GC (1984) Lateral migration rates of river bends. J Hydraul Eng Am Soc Civ Eng 110(11):1557–1567

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Hickin EJ (1974) The development of meanders in natural river channels. Am J Sci 274:414–442

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Thakur PK, Laha C, Aggarwal SP (2012) River bank erosion hazard study of river Ganga, upstream of Farakka barrage using remote sensing and GIS. Nat Hazards 61:967–987. doi:10.1007/s11069-011-9944-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Das JD, Dutta T, Saraf AK (2007) Remote sensing and GIS application in change detection of the Barak river channel, N.E. India. J Indian Soc Remote Sens 35(4):301–312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Das JD, Saraf AK (2007) Technical note: remote sensing in the mapping of the Brahmaputra/Jamuna River channel patterns and its relation to various landforms and tectonic environment. Int J Remote Sens 28(16):3619–3631

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Mani P, Kumar R, Chatterjee C (2003) Erosion study of a part of Majuli River-Island using remote sensing data. J Indian Soc Remote Sens 31(1):12–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Phillip G, Gupta RP, Bhatatcharya AB (1989) Channel migration studies in the middle Ganga basin, India using remote sensing. Int J Remote Sens 10(6):1141–1149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Tangri AK (2000) Application of remote sensing techniques in monitoring the spatial and temporal evolution of fluvio-geomorphic features in Ganga basin with specific reference to their impact on engineering structures. In: Sinha R (ed) Proceedings of the workshop on Fluvial Geomorphology with special reference to floodplains. IIT Kanpur, Kanpur

    Google Scholar 

  13. Lawler DM (1993) The measurement of river bank erosion and lateral channel change: a review. Earth Surf Process Landf 18:777–821

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Muller E, Décamps H, Dobson MK (1993) Contribution of space remote sensing to river studies. Freshw Biol 29:301–312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Thoms MC, Walker KF (1992) Channel changes related to low-level weirs on the River Murry, South Australia. In: Carling PA, Petts GE (eds) Lowland floodplain rivers, geomorphological perspectives. Wiley, New York, pp 235–250

    Google Scholar 

  16. Winterbottom JS, Gilvear JD (2000) A GIS-based approach to mapping probabilities of river bank erosion: regulated River Tummel, Scotland. Regul Rivers Res Manage 16(2):127–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Thoma PD, Gupta CS, Bauer EM (2001) Quantifying river bank erosion with scanning laser altimetry. Int Arch Photogramm Remote Sens Annap MD 34-3/W4:169–174

    Google Scholar 

  18. Kotoky P, Bezbaruah D, Baruah J, Sarma JN (2005) Nature of bank erosion along the Brahmaputra river channel, Assam, India. Curr Sci 88(4):634–640

    Google Scholar 

  19. Matti K, Lu XX, Rasphone A, Juha S, Jorma K (2008) Riverbank changes along the Mekong River: remote sensing detection in the Vientiane–Nong Khai area. Quat Int 186(1):100–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Banerjee M (1999) A report on the impact of Farakka Barrage on the human fabric, on behalf of South Asian Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP). http://www.sandrp.in/dams/impact_frka_wcd.pdf. Accessed on 12 Feb 2008

  21. Rudra K (2004) The encroaching Ganga and social conflicts: the case of West Bengal, India. Independent Broadcasting Associates, Littleton, MA, p 40. http://www.ibaradio.org/India/ganga/extra/resource/Rudra.pdf. Accessed on 11 Oct 2010

  22. Banerjee SN, Chakroborty P (1983) Some observations on recent trends of shifting of the Ganga between Rajmahal and Ahiron. J Geol Soc India 24:318–321

    Google Scholar 

  23. Mukhopadhyay S (2003) River bank erosion and land degradation, a study of river Ganga, land degradation and desertification. Rawat Publication, New Delhi, pp 366–373

    Google Scholar 

  24. Rudra K (1996) Problems of river bank erosion along the Ganga in Murshidabad district of West Bengal. Indian J Geogr Environ 1:25–32

    Google Scholar 

  25. Rudra K (1996) The farakka barrage- an interruption to fluvial regime. Indian J Landsc Syst Ecol Stud 19(2):105–110

    Google Scholar 

  26. Showkat I (2010) Flood and erosion induced population displacements: a socio-economic case study in the gangetic riverine tract at Malda District, West Bengal, India. J Hum Ecol 30(3):201–211, © Kamla-Raj 2010

    Google Scholar 

  27. Parua PK (2002) Fluvial geomorphology of the river Ganga around Farakka. J Inst Eng 82:193–196

    Google Scholar 

  28. Rudra K (2010) Dynamics of the Ganga in West Bengal, India (1764–2007): implications for science–policy interaction. Quat Int 22:161–169. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2009.10.043

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Kent WR, Malcom SP, Muller DR, Saunders DA, Ghose CN (2002) 40Ar/39Ar Geochronology of the Rajmahal Basalts, India, and their relationship to the Kerguelen Plateau. J Petrol 43(7):1141–1153

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Sengupta S (1998) Upper Gondwana stratigraphy and paleobotany of the Rajmahal Hills, Bihar India, Geological survey of India monograph (Paleaontologica Indica) 98. Geological Survey of India, Calcutta, p 180

    Google Scholar 

  31. Kent WR, Saunders AD, Kempton PD, Ghose CN (1997) Rajmahal basalts, eastern India: mantle sources and melt distribution at a volcanic rifted margin. In: Mahoney JJ, Coffin MF (eds) Large igneous provinces: continental, oceanic and planetary flood volcanism, Geophysical monograph, 100. American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, pp 145–182

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  32. Census of India (2001) Provisional population totals, West Bengal, Table – 11.4”. Maldah District (06). Government of West Bengal. http://web.cmc.net.in/wbcensus/DataTables/02/Table4_6.htm. Retrieved 21 July 2011

  33. Keshkar G et al (1996) Report of experts committee for bank erosion problem of river Ganga-Padma in the districts of Malda and Murshidabad, West Bengal, Planning commission Govt. of India, pp 1–71

    Google Scholar 

  34. Parua PK (1999) Erosion problems of the river Ganga in the districts of Malda and Murshidabad in West Bengal. Civil Engineering Today XIII(2):3–20, ASCE, Calcutta

    Google Scholar 

  35. Sen HS (2010) The drying up of River Ganga: an issue of common concern to both India and Bangladesh. Curr Sci 99(6):725–727

    Google Scholar 

List of Websites

Download references

Acknowledgements 

Author acknowledges the valuable support from Dr Y.V.N. Krishnamurthy, Director IIRS, Dr. P.S. Roy, Former Director IIRS, Dr. V.K. Dadhwal, Director NRSC and Dr. S.P. Aggarwal, Head, Water Resources Department, IIRS, for completion of this research. Author also thanks Mrs Chalantika, post graduate diploma student of IIRS for her immense contributions in this work. Thanks are also due to Department of Irrigation and Waterway, Government of West Bengal for support during field work and data collection.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Water Resources Department (WRD), Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), 4-Kalidas Road, 248001, Dehradun, India

    Praveen K. Thakur

Authors
  1. Praveen K. Thakur
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Praveen K. Thakur .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India

    Rashmi Sanghi

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Thakur, P.K. (2014). River Bank Erosion Hazard Study of River Ganga, Upstream of Farakka Barrage Using Remote Sensing and GIS. In: Sanghi, R. (eds) Our National River Ganga. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00530-0_11

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation