A GIS Based Study on Bank Erosion by the River Brahmaputra Around

Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Dynamics ) and the to- 2 . The Brahma- and overall ac- ) as compared Discussions 2 2 Earth System 2 ) as compared to accretion 2 area of the park. The maximum 2 ), the total area eroded was also 2 1085 1086 per year, respectively. During the entire period 2 ) as compared to accretion (29.47 km 2 resulting in a loss of 88.188 km 2 ). The rates of erosion during 1912–1916 to 1970, 1970 to 1998, and 1998 2 Dynamics (ESD). Please refer to the corresponding final paper in ESD if available. This discussion paper is/has been under review for the journal Earth System A GIS based study onthe bank river erosion Brahmaputra by around Kaziranga National Park, Assam, India J. N. Sarma and S. Acharjee Department of Applied Geology, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh, 786004,Received: India 24 July 2012 – Accepted: 9Correspondence September to: 2012 J. – N. Published: Sarma 19 ([email protected]) SeptemberPublished 2012 by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. and undermines the silty bank causing overhanging blocks to be carried away easily by to 2008 were 1.46, 1.59(1912–1916 and to 1.021 2008) km of study thecretion erosion was 61.86 on km the whole wasamounts 150.04 of km shift of the2008 bankline were during 1912–1916 4.58 km, to 3.36 1970,shift km, 1970 as and to 0.078, 1998, 1.92 km, 0.12 andhave and respectively, 1998 which controlled to 0.096 km amount the per to trend year,The the respectively. main of A rates cause the lineament of of and erosion coursethe of a of bank the few throughout the Brahmaputra faults the is Brahmaputra park. the The around loose braided non-cohesive Kaziranga channel sediments of area. of the river strikes the bank directly The total area eroded duringto 1912–1916 accretion to due 1972 to wasmore sediment more in (84.87 deposition km 1972–1998 (24.49 km (44.769tal km area eroded was(7.89 again km more in 1998–2008 (20.41 km boundary is the river Brahmaputraputra and covers River an flows area ofSequential by about 430 changes Kaziranga km in Nationalerosion the Park have position in been of a studied from1972, banklines braided Survey satellite of course of IRS the India for LISSshift topographic river about III maps due due images 53 of to km. to from 1912–1916 the1912–1916 and 1998 consistent bank to to bank erosion 1972, 2008 around 1972 usinglost Kaziranga to GIS. due has 1998 Study to been and of erosion carried 1998 bank and out to line gained 2008. for due the The to amounts periods sediment of deposition the are bank area estimated separately. The Kaziranga Nationalworld’s Park largest is population a ofanimals. one-horned The forest-edged park rhinoceroses, riverine is as situated grassland onof well the the inhabited as southern Mikir bank a by Hills. of wide the National the Brahmaputra diversity Highway River 37 of at the forms foot the southern boundary and the northern Abstract Earth Syst. Dynam. Discuss., 3,www.earth-syst-dynam-discuss.net/3/1085/2012/ 1085–1106, 2012 doi:10.5194/esdd-3-1085-2012 © Author(s) 2012. CC Attribution 3.0 License. 5 25 15 20 10 Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | to 0 30 ◦ . 2 cult task when ffi 1088 1087 E longitude covering an area of 430 km 0 40 ◦ to 93 0 05 orts needed for ground surveys. ◦ ff N latitude and 93 0 45 ◦ To compare the images with the available topographic maps, the images were regis- Floods and erosion are recurring phenomenon at the Kaziranga National Park which Keeping in mind the present critical erosion problem of the Kaziranga National Park The park is situated on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra River at the foot of process, a new grid is constructed and a set of polynomial equations is developed to 3 Database and Methodology The Survey of India (SoI)and topographic 1972 maps in of 1:50 000 the scale2001, years as 2002, 1912–1916 2004, well in 2005, as 1:63 2006, IRS 360 2007 satellite scale and data 2008 of form the the years databasetered 1998, for with 1999, the 2000, present respect study. toters the the 1:50 000 data scale in one SoI grid map system of to 1972. another Registration grid process system regis- covering the same area. In the Bhakuni (2008), and Sarma and Acharjeewere (2012). In made these neotectonic to studies correlate attempts anomalies subsurface and active bank structure erosion.studied with The by drainage Naik nature et patterns, of al. drainage bank (1999) erosion using multitemporal of satellite the data Kaziranga area was The morphological and erosionalby aspects many workers of such the as Brahmaputra Colemanand (1969), river Masselink Goswami has (1992), (1985), Bristow been Thorn, (1987),a studied et Klaassen few. al. Studies (1993) on andusing Kotoky bank topographic and erosion maps Sarma and of (2001)and satellite the to Basumallick, data river 1984; mention have Brahmaputra Kotoky been2006; et and done al., Sarma many by 2005; many of et Sarma, workers itspart al., 2002; (Sarma tributaries Sarma of 2007, and Assam 2011). Phukan, include Important 2004, the studies works on of neotectonics Roy (1975), of Mazumder the et eastern al. (2001), Luirei and and delineate areas ofsouthern bank bank erosion of causing the heavy Brahmaputra loss river. of land at the park2 along the Previous work river causing severe erosion. With this work an attempt has been made to identify this study has been initiated to through light on the dynamic aspects of the Brahmaputra takes a heavy toll of wildlifesubmerged in under the flood park. water of Except the somethe Brahmaputra high bank river grounds, erosion during the taking monsoon. entire place Assessment area in of it gets the Kaziranga is National Park done is following awhen very ground di it based is conventional required surveythe methods. to remote It be sensing is done satellitereduction time repetitively. are in Use consuming time the of and most multi e suitable temporal means data which obtained results from considerable savannas, and shrublands biome. the Mikir Hills. Nationalboundary is Highway the 37 river forms26 Brahmaputra the (Fig. 1). southern The boundary park and has an the extension northern from 26 1 Introduction The Kaziranga National Parkturbed is by one man. offloods It the inhabited is last by the areas forest-edged world’sas in riverine largest a eastern population wide grassland diversity of India maintained of one-horneddominant almost animals. rhinoceroses, by biomes The undis- as park of fire well is the and locatedtropical region in and annual are the subtropical Indomalaya Brahmaputra moist ecozone, Valley broadleaf andof semi-evergreen forests the the forests biome of and Terai-Duar savanna a the and frequently flooded grasslands variant of the tropical and subtropical grasslands, Kaziranga and erosion inBrahmaputra. middle Antierosion part measures of have Kaziranga beenbank national adopted erosion park only at area in Kaziranga. due a to few places the to river check the river current. In future deposition is likely to be more in upstream or eastern part of 5 5 20 15 10 25 15 20 10 Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | 2 got eroded away during erent time periods. Area 2 ff 1090 1089 ect in the entire period in south bank was loss ff bank area along the 53 km length of the Brahmaputra River. 2 , respectively. The net e 2 ered a heavy loss of land mass and a total of 84.19 km ff The positions of south bank of the Brahmaputra along Kaziranga park for the years It is evident from the Table 1 that during the period of (1912–1916)–1972 the park To determine the area eroded and filled up by the Brahmaputra Rivers during (1912– This eleven newly created superimposed line layer are converted to vector layers The characteristics of the river were analyzed in terms of their geomorphology and very common that a locationson under attack may of or severe may bank not erosionbankline experience during causing similar one erosion attack flood is during sea- takingsediments next place season. are The during deposited change receding as in stageflow sand river of direction bars floods and within when migration the of excess the channel sand silty resulting bars materials into thereupon of the the and change banks. also of due to flowage failure of 4.2 Discussion Erosion along the northern boundary,National in Park. particular, Erosion is has the been majorputra taking threat river since to place many the in years. Kaziranga the Erosionin is, region primarily, this due attributed region. to to the It the instability mighty is of Brahma- also the river experienced that the erosion pattern is quite irregular and it is interval of only 1of or study 2 from yr; 1912–1916 hence toand the 2008 64.09 pattern km the is total not areaof eroded very total and 87.06 clear. km filled-up During were the 151.15 entire km period 1912–1916, 1972, 1998migration. and It 2008 is evident are from the shown figure in that the Fig. bankline 3 was never to stationary. give an idea of bankline and presented in Table 1. had su this period. The amount1998. of However erosion as and the deposition erosion were and also deposition prominent were from found 1972 out to for 1998 to 2008 in an the earlier channel are found out using Erdas software from the maps given in Fig. 2 shown diagrammatically in Fig. 2. The area lost due to erosion and gained by fill up of 4 Result 4.1 Bank erosion and build up As mentioned earlier the Kazirangaparticular, National on Park east-north is eastern undergoing andtra heavy western River loss sides. from of Erosion 1912–1916 land, and to2001, in fill-ups 1972, 2001 of 1972 to Brahmapu- to 2002, 1998, 1998 2002 to to 1999, 2004, 1999 2004 to to 2000, 2006, 2000 2006 to to 2007 and 2007 to 2008 are which showed the area erodedlayer and thus filled created are up converted byby to the quadtrees the river and in river the di in areasBrahmaputra eroded both River away the around and Kaziranga filled banks National up are Park. found out. This is done for the entire length of the 2001, 2002, 2004,calculated 2005, for 2006, the part 2007 of and Brahmaputra River 2008). which The falls within1916)–1972 rates the which of park is area erosion takenas as and second the fill period first are were period superimposed.1999, and And 2000, finally the 2001, bank 2002, bank lines 2004, lines of 2005,sively of 1912–1916, 2006, to 2007 1972–1998 1972, estimate and 1998, taken the 2008 change are for superimposed the progres- entire period of study. tion, all the scenes wereusing joined Erdas to Imagine demarcate mosaic the tool. basin of the Kaziranga Nationalpattern Park of channel changestopographic in maps time of 1912–1916 and and over 1972 space and using IRS LISS twelve III- period 1D, P6 data (1998, sets 1999, SoI 2000, describe the spatial mapping of data from the old grid into the new one. After registra- 5 5 15 20 10 25 15 20 10 Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | 0 – 0 44 ◦ 18 ◦ ) and 0 –93 0 20 ◦ erent seg- 42 ff ◦ –93 erent parts of 0 ff 18 ◦ ). These segments 0 46 ◦ longitude (east) interval 0 –93 0 erent segment is shown in ff 34 ◦ 1092 1091 ) and 18–23 (93 0 26 ◦ –93 erent segment is shown in Fig. 7. It is evident from the 0 ff ). These segments are lying is just at and downstream of 0 22 ◦ have been estimated at each 02 32 at downstream and segment 23 represents 93 0 ◦ 0 44 ◦ 02 –93 ◦ 0 30 ◦ ). Geographical location of these areas, from east to west, will be –93 to 93 0 0 0 32 00 ◦ ◦ 00 ◦ –93 0 30 ◦ ) and 16 (93 0 20 ◦ A plot of total amount of shift due to fill up in km at di In order to have an idea about future trend of erosion and deposition in di It is very likely that the Kaziranga area has developed due to tectonic causes by the are lying in the middle and upstream part of the Brahmaputra river. Comparing this with the bend of the Brahmaputramay River. continue Hence to it occur can16 in be (93 inferred these that segments, insuccessively i.e. future Balipara from Bil, the segment Phallyamari erosion Bil/Kuladuar 10 Bil,Bil/Bherbheri (93 Kilakili Bil, Bil/Ahutiguri Charghariya/Dhekiyatali Bil, Pheroni Bil,Khuti Alubari within Bil/Tengramari Kaziranga Bil, National and Park (Fig. Arimara 9). Fig. 8. It is evident fromsegment the nos. Fig. 12 8 and that 13 relatively (93 greater amount of shifts are confined in tion from 2000 to 2008 havei.e. been analyzed along for the the south northern bankshift boundary of due the of river to Kaziranga Brahmaputra, erosion national inFig. Park. km 7 A at that plot di the of93 greater total amount amount of of shifts are confined in between segment 10 (93 Park from 93 dividing the river courserepresents into 93 23 equalin segments upstream of about according 3–4 tooccurrence km geographic of length. bankline east Segment shift longitude. due 1 15, It to minimum erosion is (nil) is observed at the maximum 2 that at and frequency segment moderate nos. of at from segment 11 7,ments to of 16, the 21 study and under 22. study the data on bankline shift leading to erosion and deposi- In order to have an ideathe about park future trend along of the erosion riverdeposition and Brahmaputra deposition from in the 2000 di data to on 2008river bankline have Brahmaputra been shift leading analyzed. leading to The to erosion amount erosion and of and fill bankline (deposition) shift along of the the Kaziranga National 6 Future trend of erosion and deposition in Kaziranga National Park along the lineament. influence of two majorof the structures. Brahmaputra Firstly from theKaziranga its Dhansiri southerly area trend lineament along toward diverted thefront northwesterly Dhansiri the of trend lineament. course on Mikir Secondly the hills,tilt east the gradually which of movement towards trends north, along nearly thereby faulte.g. diverting E-W the in westerly Dhansiri, (Fig. flowing gradually earlier 4), toscarp the might river the (Fig. have courses, north. 6) caused with Moreover, the itscause the Dhansiri downthrown of area block diversion lineament to to of develops the flow a NE of the direction, Dhansiri which river might from be westerly the to major northwesterly direction Brahmaputra trends to nearlyof E-W a direction. major This lineament on had theinfluence happened north of due of the Mikir to fault Hills the inTea having front influence Estate the of same and E-W the in trend Mikir some (Fig.linear Hills 4). swamps southern can The (Budhu boundary be Bil, (Fig. seen Gorja 5). along Bil a and scarp Kali near Methoni Bil) having a perfectly Brahmaputra changes its trendof from the ENE-WSW Dhansiri tois river nearly lying on SE-NW perfectly at the alongbe the east traced the confluence of along Dhansiri Kaziranga thesegment lineament (Fig. SE-NW of (Fig. trending 4). the 4). lower CharacteristicallyHimalayan Brahmaputra The course foothills this in Dhansiri of along trend same lineament the thetra trend course can river of again east Dhansiri, the changes of through river itsis the Kaziranga Buroi. trend parallel National The towards course to Park, nearly of the up NE-SW the Himalayan to on Brahmapu- Foothills the Thrust north (Fig. of 4). Kaziranga On which the west of Kaziranga the Gowd et al. (1998),seismicity Molnar of the (1987), Meghalaya-Mikir blocks Gahlaut toa and reactivation gently of Chander what dipping (1992) has shallow been attribute thrustmany postulated or the as E-W midcrustal higher and detachment. transverse According faults to that Valdiya (1973) dissect the block are active. The course of the 5 Neotectonics and Lineaments 5 5 25 15 20 10 25 15 20 10 Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | ect of the earthquake. The maxi- ff 1094 1093 ects of the collision between Indian and Eurasia, Curr. Sci., 74, 75–80, 1998. ff and bank material, Proc. 5th1992. Int. Symp. River Sedimentation, Karlsruhe, Germany, 459–471, aggracdation, Water Resour. Res., 21, 959–978, 1985. shield: E 129–239, 1969. India, Tectonophysics, 204, 163–174, 1992. in Fluvial Sedimentology, editedEco. by: Paleo. Ethridge, Miner., Special F. G., Pub., 39, Flores, 63–74, R. 1987. M., and Harvey, M. D., Soc. In 2009 at Agaratali downstream of the above random responsive work of porcu- Hence it can be inferred that in future deposition is likely to be more in upstream or Klaassen, G. J. and Masselink, G.: Planform changes of a braided river with fine sand as bed Gowd, T. N., Srirama Rao, S. V., and Chary, K. B.: Stress field and seismicity in the Indian Goswami, D. C.: Brahmaputra river, Assam, India : physiography, basin denudation and channel Gahalaut, V. K. and Chander, R.: A rupture model for the great earthquake of 1897, Northeast Coleman, J. M.: Brahmaputra River: Channel process and sedimentation, Sediment. Geol., 3, Bristow, C. S.: Brahmaputra River: channel migration and deposition, in: Recent Development References Also the reach offrom the 8.36 km Brahmaputra in along 1912 to Kazirangamum 11.96 width km reach of in has the 1972 river due widened in torespectively; Kaziranga substantially the which reach e in confirms 1998 that to the 2008in were widening recent 10.28 process km time. and had Analysis 11.01 slowed of km, is down multi likely considerably date to satellite be data more has inNational indicted eastern Park that part area. in of future Kaziranga deposition and erosion in middle part of Kaziranga Using multi date satellitebank data erosion it and has gain been inranga possible land National due to to Park identify bank during and retreatnational areas the of park experiencing might the period have Brahmaputra 1912 occurred river subsequent to along to Kazi- 2008. the great Severe Assam loss Earthquake of of 1950. land area of the 8 Conclusions quantities have been done along2007 to the 2009. bank as responsive work from timepines to 2 time from numbers of5 porcupine numbers screens of with Bull 3mabout Heads 20 size made km porcupines downstream of were of 2of m Agaratali, laid Assam, size the along porcupines. Water constructed with Resource In 3performed Department the numbers extremely (WRD), same well. of Govt. year, 3 at m Arimora size porcupine screens and these screens reach, saved the site andbed is level functioning at that extremely location well till inthat date holding followed. facing No porcupine-generated all the further flood layerbe/should waves of and have been draw-downs porcupine of done. over the At it years thesilt has downstream deposition of yet made the been Bankual by laid, i.e. the though at above this downstream porcupine of could screen, the random porcupine works in small 7 Bank protection work In 2005–2006 a porcupineof screen, the about Kaziranga. 1 This km screenrows long, was from made was of the laid 3 at concerned mthis, porcupines Bonkual Brahmaputra the in at embankment Brahmaputra 3 upstream to embankment numbers of was thelocation staggering eroded and nearest away the sand from erosion bar. downstream wasof Before of migrating the upstream the initial year screen works after and year. it This totally screen stopped was the one chronic and severe erosion problem of the to bank erosion discussed earlier. eastern part of Kazirangadue and to erosion the in river Brahmaputra. middle part of Kaziranga national park area Fig. 7 it also clear that the nature of fill up is just the reverse of the cases of shift due 5 5 25 20 15 10 25 15 20 10 Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | ´ ogicas, 99, 33–38, 2012. ˜ oes Geol 1095 1096 around Rohmoria Assam, India, Comunicaç Dihing river (Assam), assessedSens., 35, using 93–100, remote 2007. sensing data and GIS,phic J. studies in Ind. identifying Soc. aAssam, Remote Recent J. (or Ind. perhaps Soc. Neogene?) Remote upwarp Sens., in the 39, Dibru 507–517, River 2011. basin, in Assam, India, during the twentieth century, J. Geol. Soc. India, 68, 1023–1036, 2006. tectonic studies, Geophys. Res, Bull. II, 79–114, 1973. port – National seminar on Disaster management, Guwahati,Majuli 50–53, of 2002. the Brahmaputra in Assam, India, Geomorphology, 60, 1–19, 2004. Brahmaputra River, Bangladesh, in: BraidedGeol. Rivers, Soc., edited by: London, Best, 257–276, J. 1993. L. and Bristow, C. S., sam – A Study based onputra multitemporal Board, satellite Guwahati, data, 1999. SAC (ISRO), Ahmedabad and Brahma- Earth. Sci., 11, 199–206, 1984. Himalaya: Evidences of Neotectonics, J. Geol. Soc. India, 71,GSI 780–786, Pub., 2008. 65, 227–230, 2001. examples from the Alps1987. and the Himalaya, Ann. Geophys., J. Geol. Soc. India, 30, 13–27, river channel, Assam, India, Curr. Sci., 88, 634–639, 2005. to Kaziranga, Unpub. Report, RRL, Jorhat, 100 pp., 2001. Sarma, J. N. and Acharjee, S.: Bank erosion of the Brahmaputra River and Neotectonic activity Sarma, J. N., Acharjee, S., and Gogoi, C.: Application of DEM, Remote sensing and geomor- Sarma, J. N., Bora D., and Goswami, U.: Change of river channel and bank erosion of the Burhi Sarma, J. N. and Phukan, M. K.: Bank erosion and bankline migration of the river Brahmaputra Valdia, K. S.: Tectonic framework of India: a review and interpretation of recent structural and Sarma, J. N. and Phukan, M. K.: Origin and some geomorphological changes of the river island Sarma, J. N.: Pattern of erosion and bankline migration of the river Brahmaputra, Assam, Re- Thorne, C. R., Russell, A. P. G., and Alam, M. K.: Planform pattern and channel evolution of the Naik, S. D., Chakrabory, S. K., Bora, T., and Hussain, I.: Erosion at Kaziranga National Park, As- Roy, T. K.: Drainage analysis inSarma, the J. Upper N. Assam and valley, Ind. Basumallick, J. S.: Earth Bankline Sci., 2, migration 39–50, of 1975. the Burhi dihing river, Assam, Ind. J. Molnar, P.: Inversion of profiles of uplift rates for the geometry of dipslip faults at depth, with Mazumdar, K., Sengupta, R., and Mishra, M. N.: Neotectonism in Brahmaputra Valley, Assam, Luirei, K. and Bhakuni, S. S.: Ground Tilting in Likhabali area along the frontal part of Arunachal Kotoky, P., Bezboruah, D., and Sarma, J. N.: Nature of bank erosion along the Brahmaputra Kotoky, P.and Sarma, J. N.: Hydrogeomorphological study of the Brahmaputra river from Majuli 5 5 30 25 20 15 10 Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | ect ff 0.925 (F) 1.716 (F) Net E − − Erosion (E), ) 2 1098 1097 Total erosion and fill along Kaziranga (in km Erosion Fill Fill (F) Year Total 151.15 64.09 87.06 (E) 2005–20062006–2007 0.6272007–2008 2.299 2.049 2.343 0.195 0.396 2.104 (E) 1.653 (E) 1916–19721972–1998 84.191998–1999 44.841999–2000 4.0752000–2001 3.8532001–2002 24.412002–2004 1.78 28.982004–2005 0.68 4.715 1.807 59.78 (E) 2.051 0.043 15.86 (E) 2.268 (E) 0.852 0.284 3.81 (E) 1.808 0.928 (E) 2.976 0.396 (E) 2.907 (E) Erosion and fill up due to the Brahmaputra river along Kaziranga National Park. Location Map of the Study area. Fig. 1. Table 1. 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erent years. ﬀ

1100 1099

2001 to 2002, 2002 to 2004, 2004 to 2005, 2005 to 2006, 2006 to 2007 and 2007 to 2008. 2001 to 2002, 2002 to 2004, 2004 to 2005, 2005 Erosion and ﬁll-ups of Brahmaputra River form 1912 to 1972, 1972 to 1998, 1998 to Blankline changes along Kaziranga National Park in di Fig. 3. Fig. 2. 1999, 1999 to 2000,2006 2000 to to 2007 2001, and 2001 2007 to to 2002, 2008. 2002 to 2004, 2004 to 2005, 2005 to 2006, Erosion and fill-ups of Brahmaputra River from 1912 to1972, 1972 to 1998, 1998 to 1999, 1999 to 2000, 2000 to 2001, to 2000, 2000 to1972, 1972 to 1998, 1998 to 1999, 1999 Fig. 2 Erosion and fill-ups of Brahmaputra River from 1912