Changing Pattern of Channel Morphology of Alaknanda River in Srinagar Valley (Garhwal Himalaya), India
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Changing Pattern of Channel Morphology of Alaknanda River in Srinagar Valley (Garhwal Himalaya), India D. D. Chauniyal1 • Surajit Dutta1 • Sapna Semwal1 Received: 17 January 2017 / Accepted: 3 June 2018 Ó Indian Society of Remote Sensing 2018
Abstract The Alaknanda River is the most significant parental river of Ganga and forms an 11.5 km long and 2.5 km wide valley, locally known as the Srinagar Valley. The purpose of the present study is to highlight the recent landform changes in the Alaknanda channel course after the Kedarnath disaster, 2013. The Kedarnath flood completely changed the channel morphology of the Alaknanda river. The river changed its course at Srikot, SSB and Sriyantra Tapu with lower terraces being silted by sands at Ranihat, SSB, Bhaktiyana and Sriyantra Tapu. A new depositional terrace also formed opposite to Sriyantra Tapu. New lateral channel bars, braided channels, back swamp, rapids, pools and river souls were identified in the channel course of the river. Shifting of the channel course at Chauras still remains a serious problem for the Garhwal University Chauras Campus. About 2–5 m silt was deposited on the lower terrace at SSB, and ITI. The Srikot river bed was appended to 4.60 m. Shifting of channel course remains a serious threat to the Srinagar valley. Urbanization, sand and boulders mining, construction of dam, hydrological canal, road and settlements are the prominent example of anthropogenic activities which affect the shifting channel. Keywords Srinagar valley Channel morphology Gradation Hydrology
Introduction The term river morphology is used to describe the shape of river channels and how they change in shape and direction over time. River morphology is the field of science dealing with changes of river form and cross-section shape mainly due to sedimentation and erosion processes (Chang 1988). The morphology of a river channel is a function of a number of processes and environmental conditions. It includes the composition and nature of bottom and banks of the river (e.g., sand, clay, bedrock). Erosion comes from the power and consistency of the current, and can affect the formation of the river’s path. It also includes the availability of sediment; the size and composition of the sediment moving through the channel, the rate of sediment transport through the channel and the rate of deposition on the floodplain, banks, bars, and bed (Schumm 1977, 1985). & D. D. Chauniyal [email protected] 1
Department of Geography, HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar, Garhwal, India
Morais et al. (2016), found little morph metrics, morph dynamics and channel change mechanisms of Peixe River between 1962 and 2008. The reveal that land use changes and an upstream reservoir are the potential causes of the adjustment in the river. Channel morphology changes and their relationship to valley bottom geology and human interventions along Vistula valley in Warsaw, Poland indicates that it not only from the effect of hydro technical structures but also from the geologic
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