BALASON WATERSHED: ITS MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH BENGAL FOR THE OEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Sc.) Saniatl S*au£ sl?M\^ Prof. M.M. Jana DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY AND APPUED GEOGRAPHY University of North Bengal Raja Ranunohanpur, Darjeeling West Bengal, India 2008 2]2n3r, 2 4 MAR /•CI UNIVERSITY OF NORTH BENGAL DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY AND APPLIED GEOGRAPHY P.O. North Bengal University, Raja Ramniohunpur, Dt Daneeling. West Bengal. India, Pin-734013 Ph.: 0353-2699111(0) M.Sc.,Ph.O.(Cal.), 0353-26991 <«KR) P.G. Dip (RS. Application) F.G.S.I.. (Cal.), F.1.N.CA, FAA.G. (USA) Mobile: 09434048487 Formerly Professor of Geography & Applied Geography Email: [email protected] Emeritus FeUow TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN I am pleased to certify that Sm. Somali Paul is known to me for the last six years and she worked under me for her Ph. D. Thesis entitled "Balason Watershed: Its Management and Development" in the North Bengal University. She prepared the Thesis based on prin^ary and secondary data collected from field survey and other secorKlary sources. Now, the Thesis is ready for submission for the degree of Ph. D. in Geography & Applied Geography in the Faculty of Science of the University. So far my knowledge goes it is an original work on this topic in this University. She is methodical and sincere in her work. She bears a good moral character. i wish her success in her future life. Date: 21.03.2008 Prof. M. M. Jana Supervisor p. 21, Gariahat Road (South), Flat No A-4 (3rd Floor), Kolkata 700 031, Ph: 033-24236399(R) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep indebtedness to my nwntor and guide Prof. M-M, Jana, Emeritus F^ow, Department of Geograf% and Applied Geography, University of North Bengal, India, who offered perennial help and guidance to me at every stage by his untiring and ever stimulating supervision, critical assessment and valuable comments. I am abo equally thankful to Late Smt. Krishna Jana, for her caring attitude. My sincere gratitude goes to the Department of Education, Govt of West Bengal,^ fw granting me permisTon to carry out my research wortc. I am extrenwly grateful to Mr. Dibyen Mukheijee, Director of School Educat?wi & Ex-Officio Joint Secretary, Govt, of West Bengal, for his support. I am thankful to Mr. B. Dasgupta, ADM (South 24 Pgs.) and Mr. Yadav, DEC, Kurseong for helping me to collect data. I am thankful to all Government officers of Kurseong, Mirik, Sukhiapokhri and Jprebunglow P.S. I am equally thankful to Manager, Singel T. 6., for supplying me with climatic data. I want to thank Mr. Anil Kumar Jha, Superintendent, Sungma Tea Estate and Mr. Rajesh Ranjan, for providing me information regarding different tea gardens. I am very thankful to the teachers and staff of Department of Geography and Applied Geography, University of North Bengal My sincere thanks are due to the officials of the library and other offices of the University of North Bengal I am indebted to Ms. S. Basu, Mrs. N. Das, and Ms. M. Banerjee for their support. I cannot forget to acknowledge the good wishes of my family, specially my mother Smt. Sabita Paul and my cousin Smt Pamela Nath, that have been a constant source of encouragement and assistance. I am indebted to Mr. Jahangir Alam Sarkar for helping me to prepare my thesis. Finally, I owe my deep debt of gratitude to my uncle Prof. Ramen Kar, without whose inspiration I would have never dared to start this research work. SomaK PatH PREFACE A watershed or basin is a manageable hydroLogical unit. Balason is one of the most important rivers of North Bengal. The entire watershed of river Balason includes the highest point of the area (ridge line) to the outlet of the river in the plains where it meets another main river. In this watershed, large tracts of natural forests and grasslands were cleared to establish tea gardens and settlements. Tea gained much importance due to its unique flavour but this sector did not play any major role for the overall development of the area. This drastic change in land use badly affected the Balason basin area. Large number of labour was imported from outside, who were unaware about the area. Traders, middlemen and artisans followed the labour, increasing the population of the Balason basin at a faster rate. Sunnier eastern part of the basin was occupied in no time, and the ever increasing population carried out all sorts of activities in most unplanned and unscientific way. Tea gardens and factories, being the main economic institutions exploited land to such an extent that without proper research and planning the area will face severe problems of resource utilization in near future. Problems like deforestation, overgrazing, soil erosion, landslides, drying of water sources etc. needs proper management and developmental strategies. The work commences with the first chapter, which deals with physical background of the study area, including physiographic divisions, geology, drainage, climate, soil and natural vegetation. The second chapter discusses about the different drainage characteristics of the basin including drainage network and drainage basin morphometric analysis. Study of human resources in the basin i.e. the distribution of population and their growth, composition, density and occupational pattern are discussed in the third chapter. The fourth chapter gives an idea of different types of land uses, found in the basin. Moreover it deals with land tenure systems. The major types of crops grown, the principal cropped areas and their production, also occupies some space in this chapter. The different socio-economic functions like education, health services, communication, transport, finance, industry, power, drinking water, recreation etc, their distribution and availability are the major areas of discussion in chapter five. The sixth chapter deals with the identification of the major problems of the basin. These problems like 1) Physical, 2) Institutional and 3) Socio­ economic are discussed in details. Physical problems viz. soil erosion. Landslide etc, their causes and impact are discussed. Institutional problems highlight the problems related to land tenure systems. Socio-economic problems have dealt with problems related to socio-economic functions available in the basin. The seventh chapter deals with different types of management of resources needed urgently to protect the study area from further damage. Appropriate management systems which are suitable for mitigating the problems of the basin are also dealt with. The eighth chapter reviews the earlier strategies implemented in the basin and formulates the present strategies. Different types of suggestions for the future development of the Balason watershed are given in the chapter. And finally the tenth chapter comprises of conclusion. Somali Paul 111 CONTENT Page No ACKNOWLEDGEMENT i PREFACE ii CONTENT iv LIST OF TABLES ix LIST OF FIGURES xi LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS xiii GLOSSARY xiv INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER - I PHYSICAL BACKGROUND OF THE 9 BALASON WATERSHED INTRODUCTION 9 1.1 Physical Background 9 1.1.1. Relative Relief 13 1.1.2. Slope 13 1.2 Geology 15 1.3 Drainage 18 1.4 Climate 20 1.5 Soil 22 1.6 Vegetation 23 CONCLUSION 25 CHAPTER - II DRAINAGE CHARACTERISTICS IN 27 THE BASIN INTRODUCTION 27 2.1 Drainage Characteristics 27 2.1.1 Long and Cross Profile 27 2.1.2. Stream Ordering 31 2.1.3. Drainage Frequency 31 2.1.4. Drainage Density 32 2.1.5. Bifurcation Ratio 33 2.1.6. Circularity Ratio 33 2.1.7. Elongation Ratio 34 2.1.8. Form Factor 34 2.1.9. Compactness Co-efficient 34 CONCLUSION 35 CHAPTER - in HUMAN RESOURCE IN THE BASIN 37 INTRODUCTION 37 3.1 Distribution of Population 38 3.2 Composition of Population 40 3.2.1 Sex Ratio 40 3.2.2. Caste Composition 41 3.2.3. Literacy 42 3.3 Density of Population 45 3.4 Growth of Population 46 3.5 Occupational Pattern 47 CONCLUSION 51 CHAPTER - IV LAND USE IN THE BASIN 54 INTRODUCTION 54 4.1 General Land Use 55 4.1.1 Area under Forest 55 4.1.2 Cultivated Area 57 4.1.3 Culturable Waste 61 4.1.4 Area not Available for Cultivation 62 4.2 Land Tenure System 62 4.3 Agricultural Practices 66 4.4 Problems of Agricultural Sector 67 4.5 Characteristics of Cropping Pattern 68 CONCLUSION 73 CHAPTER - V SOCIO-ECONOMIC FUNCTIONS AND 76 THEIR DISTRIBUTIONS INTRODUCTION 76 5.1 Education 76 5.2 Health Services 78 5.3 Comm,unication 81 5.4 Transport 82 5.5 Banking Facility 84 5.6 Industry 85 5.7 Electricity 85 5.8 Drinking Water 86 5.9 Recreational Facility 87 5.9.1 Tourism 88 CONCLUSION 89 CHAPTER - VI MAJOR PROBLEMS IN THE BASIN 91 INTRODUCTION 91 6.1 Physical Problems 91 6.1.1 Types of Soil Erosion 91 6.1.2 Causes of Soil Erosion 96 6.2 Problems for Agricultural Development 105 6.2.1 Physical Problems 105 6.2.2 Institutional Problems 106 6.2.3 Cultural Problems 108 6.3 Socio-economic Problems 109 6.3.1 Education 109 6.3.2 Health Services 110 6.3.3 Communication 111 6.3.4 Transport 111 6.3.5 Banking Facility 112 6.3.6 Electricity 113 6.3.7 Drinking Water 113 6.3.8 Political Problems 114 CONCLUSION 114 CHAPTER - VII CONSERVATION AND 116 MANAGEMENT INTRODUCTION 116 7.1 Water Management 116 VI 7.1.1 Control of Water Losses 116 7.1.2 Conservation through Artificial Recharge 117 7.1.3 Conservation of Soil Moisture 117 7.1.4 Conjunctive Use of Surface and Ground 118 Water Resources 7.1.5 Water Quality Management 118 7.1.6 Change in Municipal System and Recycling 119 Methods 7.1.7 Exroscaping 119 7.1.8 Grey-Water Recycling 120 7.1.9 Methods of Increase Water Input 120 7.1.10 Rain Water Harvesting