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Road Alignment and Its Impact Assessment on Environs in Parts of Himalayan Region Using Geospatial Tools

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Road Alignment and its Impact Assessment on environs in Himalayan Region using Geospatial Tools Thesis submitted to the Andhra University, Visakhapatnam in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of Master of Technology in Remote Sensing and GIS Submitted By: Harjeet Singh Urban and regional Studies Department Project Supervisor: Project Co-supervisor: Dr. Sadhana Jain Mr. Kamal Pandey Scientist SE Scientist SD Urban and Regional Studies Department Remote sensing and Geo-informatics Group IIRS, Dehradun IIRS, dehradun Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, ISRO, Dept. of Space, Govt. of India Dehradun – 248001 Uttarakhand, India June 2015 Road Alignment and its Impact Assessment on Environs in parts of Himalayan Region Using Geospatial Tools Dedicated to all my well wishers ii Road Alignment and its Impact Assessment on Environs in parts of Himalayan Region Using Geospatial Tools Acknowledgement This thesis arose as a part of M.Tech project work carried out at Indian Institute of Remote Sensing. The thesis would not have materialized without the guidance and support of many people. Their contribution in the making of this thesis deserves a special mention. This is a humble acknowledgement to convey my gratitude to them all. First, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my mother (Smt. Veena Rani) and my uncle and best friend (Sardar Jasvir Singh Brar). I am really grateful for all the love and support they have always showered on me. I would like to acknowledge the efforts of my supervisor Dr. Sadhana Jain Scientist SE, Urban and Regional Studies Department, IIRS and Co-supervisor Mr. Kamal Pandey Scientist SD, Remote sensing and Geo-informatics Group, IIRS. The help and guidance they provided me throughout my research duration at Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun is deeply appreciated. They gave me the freedom to do mistakes and learn from them. I am also thankful to Mr. Pramod Kumar, Scientist SG, Head, Urban and Regional Studies Department, for his valuable support and timely inputs refining my research work. I am also thankful to him because he has provided me the opportunity to carry out research work in the field of transportation. I would also thank Dr. SK Srivastav, Scientist SG, Group Head, Remote sensing and Geoinformatics group, for his valuable support on his expertise „Geomorphology and remote sensing‟ required during the research work. I am thankful to Dr. SPS Kushwaha Dean, Academics, Dr. S.K. Saha, Former Dean Academics, Ms. Shefali Agarwal, Course Director and Head PRSD, IIRS, for their valuable advices and insightful observations during the intermediate presentations which provided direction for mid-course corrections during the course of the research work. I am also grateful to my friend Mr. Sanjay Manohar Bisht, discussions with whom always provided valuable ideas to approach various challenges in my research work. I am also grateful to Dr. Y.V.N. Krishnamurthy, former Director, IIRS and Dr. A Senthil Kumar Director IIRS for providing an energetic and conducive research environment at IIRS. I would also like to thank all faculty members, Dr. Sandeep Maithani, Mr. BD bharath, Ms. Kshama Gupta and Ms Asfa Siddiqui, of URSD, IIRS for their valuable direct and indirect support during my research work. I also thank Mr. Devisharan and Mr. Aniruddh Deshmukh for provide me valuable support in timely providing me required data to carry out my research work. iii Road Alignment and its Impact Assessment on Environs in parts of Himalayan Region Using Geospatial Tools I am also thankful to Ms Vandana, for her support for stationery requirements during my research work. I also thank Ms Rajeshwari and Ms Seema, for their direct/indirect support during my research work. I would like to thank the Library incharge, IIRS for providing all the necessary research materials and books required during the duration of course. I would also like to thank Mr. Kailash and Mr. Srinivasa for their help and assistance in library. I submit my sincere thanks to all unknown people who helped me during my field visit required to complete my research work. Friends are a great support system in itself. I thank all my M.Tech and MSc batch mates, seniors, juniors and summer trainees for providing a great atmosphere in the IIRS Campus. Their enthusiasm in exploring this beautiful city and its bountiful surrounding helped unwind after a hectic work schedule. Lastly, I offer my regards to all those who knowingly and unknowingly have supported me during the completion of this research project. Harjeet Singh iv Road Alignment and its Impact Assessment on Environs in parts of Himalayan Region Using Geospatial Tools Disclaimer I, Harjeet Singh, hereby declare that this dissertation entitled “Road alignment and its impact assessment on its environs in Himalayan region using geo spatial tools” submitted to Andhra University, Visakhapatnam in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of M.Tech in Remote Sensing and GIS, is my own work and that to the best of my knowledge and belief. It is a record of original research carried out be me under the guidance and supervision of Dr. Sadhana Jain Scientist SE, Urban and regional studies Department, and Mr. Kamal Pandey Scientist SD, Remote sensing and Geo-informatics group, IIRS. Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, ISRO, Dehradun. It contains no material previously published or written by another person nor material which to a substantial has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma of the university or other institute of higher learning, except where due acknowledgement has been made in the text. Place: Dehradun Mr. Harjeet Singh Date: 16 July, 2015 v Road Alignment and its Impact Assessment on Environs in parts of Himalayan Region Using Geospatial Tools Certificate vi Road Alignment and its Impact Assessment on Environs in parts of Himalayan Region Using Geospatial Tools Abstract Land use planning in a hilly region is usually dependent on an efficient transportation corridor and main road network system. In this study, Geographic Information System (GIS) tools were used to develop a least-cost path for a corridor to link two stations (Gairsain and Bageshwar) in the hilly region. Gairain is the proposed capital city of Uttarakhand state of India, which is located in the geographical center of the state hence, is a suitable site for state level administrative functions. Road connectivity of Gairsain with other district headquarters of the state is not well established yet. In order to develop the capital city, it is proposed to provide accessibility with other district headquarters. Delineated study area of Gairsain to Bageshwar is have 62 percent of forest coverage, 213 km of drainage network, total of 38 percent in the steep slope (> 45 degree) region. About 3 percent of study area is under high and very high percent of landslide hazard zone and 61 percent falls in moderate hazard zone. These environmental parameters are considered while aligning a new road, so that it is protected from the negative impacts that can be caused by the surrounding environment. Obtaining an optimal road route alignment, this is cost-effective, appropriate and compatible with the environment, is a challenging task. Tha data for tha analysis is prepared using the suitability index, i.e. area suitable for new alignment are assigned low suitable index whereas non suitable areas are assigned high suitable index. The factors like geology, landuse, drainage network, slope aspect, soil texture, distance from road, etc. have been considered for the suitability analysis. The suitability surface created for these factors were standardized, evaluated and combined together. Environmental and economic factors were integrated through a spatial multi-criteria model using the Analytical Hierarchy Process. Four visions were modeled: an engineering vision, an environmental vision, landslide vision and composite hybrid vision for aligning the road and hybrid vision scored the highest and it is recommended. Traffic forecasting were also modeled using GIS for the recommended route. Keywords Road Alignment, Analytical Hierarchy Process, Engineering Vision, Environmental Vision, Landslide Vision, hybrid Vision and Traffic Forecasting vii Road Alignment and its Impact Assessment on Environs in parts of Himalayan Region Using Geospatial Tools Table of Contents Acknowledgement ............................................................................................................ iii Disclaimer .......................................................................................................................... v Certificate .......................................................................................................................... vi Abstract ............................................................................................................................ vii Table of Contents .............................................................................................................viii List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... xi List of figures ................................................................................................................... xii List of abbreviations ........................................................................................................ xiv 1. Introduction ...............................................................................................................
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