Abstract
This study aims to analyze the impacts of anthropogenic interventions on channel planform adjustments of the sub-Himalayan Mahananda-Balason River system for 52 years (1968–2020). In the studied period, Siliguri, a small urban sprawl, has largely grown to the 3rd largest in West Bengal, India, just after Kolkata and Asansol and, alongside with this the studied river system, flowing through Siliguri urban region, has adjusted its planform largely. Now, this study is chiefly framed to study the interrelationship between these. A total of 6 satellite images (1968, 1979, 1989, 1998, 2008, and 2020) have been used to measure anthropogenic interventions that include embanking, sediment extraction, land use changes, longitudinal obstructions, and channel planform properties comprising channel width, area, length, bar coverage, and channel pattern. All these quantifications are done reach-wise as both the river systems, that is, Mahananda and Balason, are sub-divided into 5 equidistant reaches each. Considering the nature of the generated data structure, initially, a two-tailed “t”-test was performed to measure the statistical significance of the change rate of the indicators followed by the panel data regression using the fixed effect model (FE) to measure the intensity of ongoing alterations on channel planform adjustments. Results showed that, with significantly increasing urbanization, embanking and in-channel sediment extraction, channels get narrowed by > 50%. Alike to channel width, the channel length and bar coverage were also reduced in reaches 2–5, and reaches 7–9. Ultimately, the inherent braided nature of the channel planform had adjusted largely and even transformed sinuous (reaches 3, 4, 9, and 10). Obtained R2 values inferred that the anthropogenic interventions were highly responsible for such intensive channel adjustments. Relatively, upper reaches (reaches 1 and 6), having fewer human interventions, are still managing their pre-existing channel morphology, although undersupply of sediments at the lower reaches and gradual engulfment of rural areas adjacent to upper reaches for urbanization is driving these reaches towards adjusting their channels accordingly. An economically viable and robust assessment like this is needed to prevent the possible undersupply of riverine resources and to develop policies on its sustainability. Such studies are immensely suitable in data-scarce regions also where investigations do not take place in the past and secondary data are also inadequate.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its supplementary materials.
References
Ashmore P, Gardner J T (2008) Unconfined confluences in braided rivers. River confluences, tributaries and the fluvial network. In: Rice SP, Roy AG, Rhoads BL (eds) River confluences, tributaries and the fluvial network , pp 119–147. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470760383.ch7
Ayaz S, Biswas M, Dhali MK (2018) Morphotectonic analysis of alluvial fan dynamics: comparative study in spatio-temporal scale of Himalayan foothill India. Arab J Geosci 11(2):1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/24749508.2019.1568130
Baker VR, Twidale CR (1991) The reenchantment of geomorphology. Geomorphology 4(2):73–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-555X(91)90021-2
Bandyopadhyay S, De SK (2017) Spatio-temporal changes in pollution status of the Haora River. In: Human interference on river health. Advances in Asian Human-Environmental Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41018-0_10
Bandyopadhyay S, De SK (2018) Anthropogenic impacts on the morphology of the Haora River, Tripura, India. Géomorphologie: Relief, Processus, Environnement 24(2):151–166. https://doi.org/10.4000/geomorphologie.12019
Banks V J, Palumbo-Roe B, Russell C E (2019) The hyporheic zone. In: Salik Javaid M (ed) Hydrology-the science of water. IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85218
Benda L, Miller D, Bigelow P, Andras K (2003) Effects of post-wildfire erosion on channel environments, Boise River Idaho. Forest Ecol Manag 178(1–2):105–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-1127(03)00056-2
Bendixen M, Best J, Hackney C, Iversen LL (2019) Time is running out for sand. Nature 571:29–31. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02042-4
Bertoldi W, Zanoni L, Tubino M (2010) Assessment of morphological changes induced by flow and flood pulses in a gravel bed braided river: the Tagliamento River (Italy). Geomorphology 114(3):348–360. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2009.07.017
Best J (2019) Anthropogenic stresses on the world’s big rivers. Nat Geosci 12(1):7–21. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-018-0262-x
Bhattacharya R, Dolui G, Chatterjee ND (2019) Effect of instream sand mining on hydraulic variables of bedload transport and channel planform: an alluvial stream in South Bengal basin India. Environ Earth Sci 78(10):303. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-019-8267-3
Biswas P (2016) West Bengal: in this village of 70 wells, 65 dry up in four months. The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/elections-2016/cities/kolkata/west-bengal-in-this-village-of-70-wells-65-dry-up-in-four-months-2754117. Accessed 20 November 2018
Biswas M, Banerjee P (2018) Bridge construction and river channel morphology - a comprehensive study of flow behavior and sediment size alteration of the River Chel India. Arab J Geosci 11(16):1–23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-018-3789-7
Booth DB (1990) Stream-channel incision following drainage-basin urbanization 1. JAWRA J Am Water Resour Assoc 26(3):407–417. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-1688.1990.tb01380.x
Boulton AJ, Findlay S, Marmonier P, Stanley EH, Valett HM (1998) The functional significance of the hyporheic zone in streams and rivers. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 29(1):59–81
Bowen EE, Hamada Y, O’Connor BL (2014) Mapping mountain front recharge areas in arid watersheds based on a digital elevation model and land cover types. J Water Resour Protect 6(08):756. https://doi.org/10.4236/jwarp.2014.68072
Bravard JP, Amoros C, Pautou G, Bornette G, Bournaud M, CreuzédesChâtelliers M, Tachet H (1997) River incision in south-east France: morphological phenomena and ecological effects. Regulated Rivers: Res Manag: An Int Devoted to River Res Manag 13(1):75–90. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1646(199701)13:1%3C75::AID-RRR444%3E3.0.CO;2-6
Brown AV, Lyttle MM, Brown KB (1998) Impacts of gravel mining on gravel bed streams. Trans Am Fish Soc 127(6):979–994. https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8659(1998)127%3C0979:IOGMOG%3E2.0.CO;2
Brown AG, Tooth S, Bullard JE, Thomas DS, Chiverrell RC, Plater AJ, Murton J, Thorndycraft VR, Tarolli P, Rose J, Wainwright J, Downs P, Aalto R (2017) The geomorphology of the Anthropocene: emergence, status and implications. Earth Surf Proc Land 42(1):71–90. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3943
Chamberlain G (1982) Multivariate regression models for panel data. J Econ 18(1):5–46
Chavez PS Jr (1988) An improved dark-object subtraction technique for atmospheric scattering correction of multispectral data. Remote Sens Environ 24(3):459–479
Chin A (2006) Urban transformation of river landscapes in a global context. Geomorphology 79(3–4):460–487. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2006.06.033
Chin A, Gregory KJ (2005) Managing urban river channel adjustments. Geomorphology 69(1–4):28–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2004.10.009
Chin A, Li A, Florsheim JL, Laurencio LR, Marston RA, Solverson AP, Simon GL, Stinson E, Wohl E (2016) Investigating feedbacks in human–landscape systems: lessons following a wildfire in Colorado, USA. Geomorphology 252:40–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.07.030
Comiti F, Da Canal M, Surian N, Mao L, Picco L, Lenzi MA (2011) Channel adjustments and vegetation cover dynamics in a large gravel bed river over the last 200 years. Geomorphology 125(1):147–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2010.09.011
Cunningham AB, Anderson CJ, Bouwer H (1987) Effects of sediment-laden flow on channel bed clogging. J Irrig Drain Eng 113(1):106–118. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9437(1987)113:1(106)
Das RJ (2015) Critical observations on neo-liberalism and India’s new economic policy. J Contemp Asia 45:715–726. https://doi.org/10.1080/00472336.2014.1003143
Datta P (1998) Migration in India with special reference to Nepali Migration. Unpublished PhD thesis. Department of Economics. University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal. http://hdl.handle.net/10603/158869. Accessed 21 Dec 2022
De S K (1998) A study of the fluvial dynamics of the river Balasan. Unpublished PhD Thesis. Department of Geography. University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal. http://hdl.handle.net/10603/159910. Accessed on 12th December 2019
Del Tánago MG, Bejarano MD, de Jalón DG, Schmidt JC (2015) Biogeomorphic responses to flow regulation and fine sediment supply in Mediterranean streams (the Guadalete River, southern Spain). J Hydrol 528:751–762. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2015.06.065
Dewan A, Corner R, Saleem A, Rahman MM, Haider MR, Rahman MM, Sarker MH (2017) Assessing channel changes of the Ganges-Padma River system in Bangladesh using Landsat and hydrological data. Geomorphology 276:257–279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2016.10.017
Dhali MK, Ayaz S, Sahana M, Guha S (2020) Response of sediment flux, bridge scouring on river bed morphology and geomorphic resilience in middle-lower part of river Chel, Eastern Himalayan foothills zone India. Ecol Eng 142:105632. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2019.105632
Downs PW, Piégay H (2019) Catchment-scale cumulative impact of human activities on river channels in the late Anthropocene: implications, limitations, prospect. Geomorphology 338:88–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2019.03.021
Friend PF, Sinha R (1993) Braiding and meandering parameters. Geol Soc, London, Special Publications 75(1):105–111. https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1993.075.01.05
Galster JC, Pazzaglia FJ, Germanoski D (2008) Measuring the impact of urbanization on channel widths using historic aerial photographs and modern surveys 1. JAWRA J Am Water Resour Assoc 44(4):948–960. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-1688.2008.00193.x
Galvao AF Jr (2011) Quantile regression for dynamic panel data with fixed effects. J Econ 164(1):142–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconom.2011.02.016
Gansser A (1964) Geology of the Himalayas. Inter-science Publishers, London
Ghosh A (2018) The importance of Being Siliguri: border effect and the ‘untimely’ city in North Bengal. Logistical Asia. In: Neilson B, Rossiter N, Samaddar R (eds) The labour of making a world region, pp 135–154
Ghosh S (2022) Geomorphic appraisal of active tectonics and fluvial anomalies in Peninsular Rivers of the Bengal Basin (West Bengal, India). In: Shit PK, Bera B, Islam A, Ghosh S, Bhunia GS (eds) Drainage basin dynamics. Geography of the Physical Environment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79634-1_23
Gibling MR (2018) River systems and the anthropocene: a late pleistocene and Holocene timeline for human influence. Quaternary 1(3):21
Goswami U, Sarma JN, Patgiri AD (1999) River channel changes of the Subansiri in Assam India. Geomorphology 30(3):227–244. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-555X(99)00032-X
Grable JL, Harden CP (2006) Geomorphic response of an Appalachian Valley and Ridge stream to urbanization. Earth Surf Process Landforms 31(13):1707–1720. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.1433
Gregory KJ (2006) The human role in changing river channels. Geomorphology 79(3–4):172–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2006.06.018
Gregory KJ, Lewin J (2015) Making concepts more explicit for geomorphology. Prog Phys Geogr 39:711–727. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309133315571208
Hajdukiewicz H, Wyżga B (2019) Aerial photo-based analysis of the hydromorphological changes of a mountain river over the last six decades: the Czarny Dunajec, Polish Carpathians. Sci Total Environ 648:1598–1613. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.234
Hasanuzzaman M, Gayen A, Shit PK (2021) Channel dynamics and geomorphological adjustments of Kaljani River in Himalayan foothills. Geocarto Int. https://doi.org/10.1080/10106049.2021.1882008
Hu X, Schiantarelli F (1998) Investment and capital market imperfections: a switching regression approach using US firm panel data. Rev Econ Stat 80(3):466–479. https://doi.org/10.1162/003465398557564
Huang MW, Liao JJ, Pan YW, Cheng MH (2014) Rapid channelization and incision into soft bedrock induced by human activity—implications from the Bachang River in Taiwan. Eng Geol 177:10–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2014.05.002
Huang X, Liu J, Zhang Z, Fang G, Chen Y (2019) Assess river embankment impact on hydrologic alterations and floodplain vegetation. Ecol Ind 97:372–379. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.10.039
Kang RS, Marston RA (2006) Geomorphic effects of rural-to-urban land use conversion on three streams in the Central Redbed Plains of Oklahoma. Geomorphology 79(3–4):488–506. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2006.06.034
Keen-Zebert A (2007) Channel responses to urbanization: Scull and Mud creeks in Fayetteville. Arkansas Phys Geography 28(3):249–260. https://doi.org/10.2747/0272-3646.28.3.249
Khaleghi S, Surian N (2019) Channel adjustments in Iranian rivers: a review. Water 11(4):672. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11040672
Kiss T, Blanka V (2012) River channel response to climate-and human-induced hydrological changes: case study on the meandering Hernád River, Hungary. Geomorphology 175:115–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2012.07.003
Kondolf GM (1994) Geomorphic and environmental effects of instream gravel mining. Landsc Urban Plan 28(2–3):225–243. https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-2046(94)90010-8
Kondolf GM (1997) PROFILE: hungry water: effects of dams and gravel mining on river channels. Environ Manage 21(4):533–551. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002679900048
Kondolf GM, Piégay H, Landon N (2002) Channel response to increased and decreased bedload supply from land use change: contrasts between two catchments. Geomorphology 45(1–2):35–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-555X(01)00188-X
Liébault F, Piégay H (2002) Causes of 20th century channel narrowing in mountain and piedmont rivers of southeastern France. Earth Surf Processes Landf 27(4):425–444. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.328
Macklin MG, Lewin J (2019) River stresses in anthropogenic times: large-scale global patterns and extended environmental timelines. Progress Phys Geography: Earth Environ 43(1):3–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309133318803013
Mahapatra BK, Sarkar UK, Lakra WS (2014) A review on status, potentials, threats and challenges of the fish biodiversity of West Bengal. J Biodivers, Bioprospecting Dev 2(140):2376–214. https://doi.org/10.4172/2376-0214.1000140
Makuta I, O’Hare B (2015) Quality of governance, public spending on health and health status in Sub Saharan Africa: a panel data regression analysis. BMC Public Health 15(1):932. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-015-2287-z
McManus P (2015) February. Introduction to regression models for panel data analysis. Indiana University Workshop in Methods. https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2022/21957/2015-02-13_wim_mcmanus_panel_slides.pdf?sequence=2
Mitra S, Roy AK, Tamang L (2020) Assessing the status of changing channel regimes of Balason and Mahananda River in the Sub-Himalayan West Bengal India. Earth Syst Environ 4(2):409–425. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41748-020-00160-y
Mitra S, Chatterjee A, De SK, Datta D, Tamang L (2022) Assessing the hydromorphological condition of the Sub-Himalayan Mahananda-Balason system using the hydromorphological quality index. Adv Space Res. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2022.09.037
Mitra S, Mondal M, Khatoon K, Oraon S, Tamang L (2023) Assessing human control on planform modification over floods: a study of lower Mahananda-Balason River system, India. Floods in the Ganga–Brahmaputra–Meghna Delta. Springer International Publishing, Cham, pp 127–160
Moretto J, Rigon ELLF, Mao L, Picco L, Delai F, Lenzi MA (2014) Channel adjustments and island dynamics in the Brenta River (Italy) over the last 30 years. River Res Applic 30(6):719–732. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.2676
Nafchi RF, Samadi-Boroujeni H, Vanani HR, Ostad-Ali-Askari K, Brojeni MK (2021). Laboratory investigation on erosion threshold shear stress of cohesive sediment in Karkheh Dam. Environmental Earth Sciences, 80, 1–15. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12665-021-09984-x
Naudé WA, Saayman A (2005) Determinants of tourist arrivals in Africa: a panel data regression analysis. Tour Econ 11(3):365–391
NDTV (2021) Roads, bridges damaged as severe rains trigger landslides in North Bengal. https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/roads-bridges-damaged-as-severe-rains-trigger-landslides-in-north-bengal-2582007. Accessed 22 October 2021.
Osmundson DB, Ryel RJ, Lamarra VL, Pitlick J (2002) Flow–sediment–biota relations: implications for river regulation effects on native fish abundance. Ecol Appl 12(6):1719–1739. https://doi.org/10.5367/000000005774352962
Ostad-Ali-Askari K, Shayannejad M (2021) Quantity and quality modelling of groundwater to manage water resources in Isfahan-Borkhar Aquifer. Environ Dev Sustain 23:15943–15959. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-021-01323-1
Overton IC, Smith DM, Dalton J, Barchiesi S, Acreman MC, Stromberg JC, Kirby JM (2014) Implementing environmental flows in integrated water resources management and the ecosystem approach. Hydrol Sci J 59(3–4):860–877. https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2014.897408
Pal S, Talukdar S (2020) Assessing the role of hydrological modifications on land use/land cover dynamics in Punarbhaba river basin of Indo-Bangladesh. Environment, Development and Sustainability 22(1):363–382. https://link.springer.com/article/https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-018-0205-0
Paul MJ, Meyer JL (2001) Streams in the urban landscape. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 32(1):333–365. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.32.081501.114040
Paul M, Gupta S, Banerjee S (2009) Fish fauna of major rivers of Darjeeling district, with special reference to their conservation status. Record Zool Surv India 109(4):15–23. https://doi.org/10.26515/rzsi/v109/i4/2009/158973
Prasad SVS, Savithri TS, Krishna IVM (2017) Comparison of accuracy measures for RS image classification using SVM and ANN classifiers. Int J Electr Comp Eng 2088-8708 7(3):1180. https://doi.org/10.11591/ijece.v7i3.pp1180-1187
Rădoane M, Perșoiu I, Chiriloaei F, Cristea I, Robu D (2017) Styles of channel adjustments in the last 150 years. In: Radoane M, Vespremeanu-Stroe A (eds) Landform Dynamics and Evolution in Romania, pp 489–518. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32589-7_21
Righini M, Surian N, Wohl E, Marchi L, Comiti F, Amponsah W, Borga M (2017) Geomorphic response to an extreme flood in two Mediterranean rivers (northeastern Sardinia, Italy): analysis of controlling factors. Geomorphology 290:184–199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2017.04.014
Rinaldi M, Simon A (1998) Bed-level adjustments in the Arno River, central Italy. Geomorphology 22(1):57–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-555X(97)00054-8
Rinaldi M, Wyżga B, Surian N (2005) Sediment mining in alluvial channels: physical effects and management perspectives. River Res Appl 21(7):805–828. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.884
Roy S (2011) Flood hazards in Jalpaiguri district and its management (Doctoral dissertation, University of North Bengal). Unpublished PhD Thesis. Department of Geography & Applied Geography. University of North Bengal, Darjeeling, West Bengal. http://hdl.handle.net/10603/149931. Accessed on 12th December 2019
Fares SF A (2016) Groundwater and surface water interactions in relation to natural and anthropogenic environmental changes. In: Fares A (ed) Emerging issues in groundwater resources. Springer, Cham, pp 289–326. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32008-3_11
Saha UD, Bhattacharya S (2019) Reconstructing the channel shifting pattern of the Torsa River on the Himalayan Foreland Basin over the last 250 years. Bullet Geography Phys Geography Ser 16(1):99–114. https://doi.org/10.2478/bgeo-2019-0007
Sarkar S (1989) A geo-environmental appraisal of the upper Mahananda basin of the Darjeeling Himalaya West Bengal. Unpublished PhD thesis. Department of Geography and Applied Geography. University of North Bengal, Darjeeling, West Bengal. http://hdl.handle.net/10603/182332. Accessed on 12th December 2019
Sarkar T (2021) Coldwater fish diversity and their conservation status in the Teesta, Jaldhaka, Torsa, Kaljani and Sankosh Rivers of the Dooars region, West Bengal India. Asian J Conserv Biol 10(1):146–152. https://doi.org/10.53562/ajcb.WIMQ5691
Schälchli U (1992) The clogging of coarse gravel river beds by fine sediment. Hydrobiologia 235(1):189–197. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00026211
Scorpio V, Rosskopf CM (2016) Channel adjustments in a Mediterranean river over the last 150 years in the context of anthropic and natural controls. Geomorphology 275:90–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2016.09.017
Shampa Ali MM (2019) Interaction between the braided bar and adjacent channel during flood: a case study of a sandbed braided river, Brahmaputra-Jamuna. Sustain Water Resour Manag 5:947–960. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-018-0269-x
Shit PK, Bera B, Islam A, Ghosh S, Bhunia GS (2022) Introduction to drainage basin dynamics: morphology, landscape and modelling. Drainage Basin Dynamics: an Intro Morphol, Landsc Model 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79634-1_1
Sholtes JS, Doyle MW (2011) Effect of channel restoration on flood wave attenuation. J Hydraul Eng 137(2):196–208. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)HY.1943-7900.0000294
Simon A, Rinaldi M (2006) Disturbance, stream incision, and channel evolution: the roles of excess transport capacity and boundary materials in controlling channel response. Geomorphology 79(3–4):361–383. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2006.06.037
Singh SK, Srivastava PK, Gupta M, Thakur JK, Mukherjee S (2014) Appraisal of land use/land cover of mangrove forest ecosystem using support vector machine. Environ Earth Sci 71(5):2245–2255. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-013-2628-0
Sophocleous M (2002) Interactions between groundwater and surface water: the state of the science. Hydrogeol J 10(1):52–67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-001-0170-8
Stanley EH, Luebke MA, Doyle MW, Marshall DW (2002) Short-term changes in channel form and macroinvertebrate communities following low-head dam removal. J N Am Benthol Soc 21(1):172–187. https://doi.org/10.2307/1468307
Surian N, Mao L, Giacomin M, Ziliani L (2009a) Morphological effects of different channel-forming discharges in a gravel-bed river. Earth Surf Proc Land 34(8):1093–1107. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.1798
Surian N, Ziliani L, Comiti F, Lenzi MA, Mao L (2009b) Channel adjustments and alteration of sediment fluxes in gravel-bed rivers of North-Eastern Italy: potentials and limitations for channel recovery. River Res Appl 25(5):551–567. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.1231
Surian N, Righini M, Lucía A, Nardi L, Amponsah W, Benvenuti M, Viero A (2016) Channel response to extreme floods: insights on controlling factors from six mountain rivers in northern Apennines Italy. Geomorphology 272:78–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2016.02.002
Talebmorad H, Ostad-Ali-Askari K (2022) Hydro geo-sphere integrated hydrologic model in modeling of wide basins. Sustain Water Resour Manag 8(4):118. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-022-00689-y
Tamang L (2013) Effects of boulder lifting on the fluvial characteristics of lower Balason basin in Darjeeling district, West Bengal. Unpublished PhD thesis. Department of Geography and Applied Geography. University of North Bengal, Darjeeling, West Bengal. http://hdl.handle.net/10603/33129. Accessed on 12th December 2019
Tamang L, Mandal DK (2015) Bed material extraction and its effects on the forms and processes of the lower Balason River in the Darjeeling Himalayas India. Geographia Polonica 88(3):393–405. https://doi.org/10.7163/GPol.2015.3
The Economic Times (2018) Another bridge collapses in West Bengal.https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/watch-another-bridge-collapses-in-west-bengal/videoshow/65716181.cms. Accessed 22nd June 2022.
The Telegraph India (2022) Rain-induced landslides cut off Sikkim for 10 hours. https://www.telegraphindia.com/states/rain-induced-landslides-cut-off-sikkim-for-10-hours/cid/1870979. Accessed 22nd June 2022
Tombolini I, Caneva G, Cancellieri L, Abati S, Ceschin S (2014) Damming effects on upstream riparian and aquatic vegetation: the case study of Nazzano (Tiber River, central Italy). Knowl Manag Aquat Ecosyst 412:03. https://doi.org/10.1051/kmae/2013085
Vanacker V, Molina A, Govers G, Poesen J, Dercon G, Deckers S (2005) River channel response to short-term human-induced change in landscape connectivity in Andean ecosystems. Geomorphology 72(1–4):340–353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2005.05.013
Walling DE, Collins AL (2008) The catchment sediment budget as a management tool. Environ Sci Policy 11(2):136–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2007.10.004
Wiejaczka Ł, Bucała A, Sarkar S (2014) Human role in shaping the hydromorphology of Himalayan rivers: study of the Tista River in Darjeeling Himalaya. Current Science 717–724. https://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/106/05/0717.pdf
Wishart D, Warburton J, Bracken L (2008) Gravel extraction and planform change in a wandering gravel-bed river: the River Wear Northern England. Geomorphology 94(1–2):131–152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2007.05.003
Wohl E (2006) Human impacts to mountain streams. Geomorphology 79(3–4):217–248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2006.06.020
Yousefi S, Moradi HR, Keesstra S, Pourghasemi HR, Navratil O, Hooke J (2019) Effects of urbanization on river morphology of the Talar River, Mazandaran Province Iran. Geocarto Int 34(3):276–292. https://doi.org/10.1080/10106049.2017.1386722
Zawiejska J, Wyżga B (2010) Twentieth-century channel change on the Dunajec River, southern Poland: patterns, causes and controls. Geomorphology 117(3–4):234–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2009.01.014
Ziliani L, Surian N, Botter G, Mao L (2020) Assessment of the geomorphic effectiveness of controlled floods in a braided river using a reduced-complexity numerical model. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 24(6):3229–3250. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-3229-2020
Acknowledgements
We express our gratitude towards those who provided their logistic support during fieldwork. The authors also acknowledge the two anonymous reviewers as their suggestions helped in improving the overall quality of the manuscript.
Funding
This study received financial support (Fellowship Reference No. 3128/NET-JUNE 2014) extended by the University Grants Commission, India, to the first author.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Amjad Kallel
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Mitra, S., Mondal, M., Datta, D. et al. Planform adjustments of sub-Himalayan Mahananda-Balason River over five decades in response to anthropogenic interventions. Arab J Geosci 16, 676 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-023-11809-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-023-11809-z