The Conference The 29th Conference of Indian Institute of Geomorphologists (IGI) on Geomorphology and Natural Hazards was held at Kolkata during 24 November – 27 November 2016. The event was organised by the Department of Geography, University of Calcutta. The Inaugural Session was held at the Vivekananda Hall of the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture on 24 November 2016 and was followed by six keynote lectures. On the following two days, 21 technical sessions and two panel discussions were held at four seminar halls, often simultaneously, at the Taraknath Shiksha Prangan of the University of Calcutta. A Cultural Evening was also arranged at the Rowing Club of the University of Calcutta at Rabindra Sarovar. A geomorphological field trip to the Sundarban was conducted on 27 November 2018, the final day of the Conference. The 29th IGI Conference was designed to provide a platform to the geomorphologists of our country to share their knowledge about the contribution of geomorphology to the comprehension of hazards, and their experiences in linking geomorphology with the other disciplines in vulnerability and risk analysis related to disaster prevention and sustainability. The focal theme of the conference was ‘Geomorphology and Natural Hazards’ and the following nine focus areas were selected for the event. Tectonics and Structural Geomorphology Landforms and Earth System Processes Planetary Geomorphology Palaeolandscapes, Climate Change and Geoarchaeology Geomorphology in Ecology and Environment Management Application of Modelling and Geoinformatics to Geomorphological Studies Urban Geomorphology Sustainable Resource Management, Planning and Geomorphology Geomorphosites and Geotourism
Conference Participants The 29th IGI conference on Geomorphology and Natural Hazards provided a platform to meet and share valuable knowledge and experiences of about 250 academicians, scientists and experts from different allied fields of geomorphology. The conference was attended by 33 invited delegates and 218 registered delegates from the different academic and research institutes across the county. The maximum number of registered delegated were from West Bengal.
Session Programme The Opening Session of the 29th IGI Conference was held at the Vivekananda Hall of the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata. Inauguration of the meet was done by Shri M. Raju (Director General, Geological Survey of India). The Session was chaired by Prof. Rolee Kanchan, President of the IGI. Prof. Sumana Bandyopadhyay, Head, Department of Geography,
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University of Calcutta, welcomed all delegates and invitees to the Conference. The activities of the Conference was outlined by Prof. Sunando Bandyopadhyay, Conference Convener. Prof. Swagata Sen, (Pro-VC, University of Calcutta), Dr. Kalyan Rudra (Chairman, West Bengal Pollution Control Board), and Shri S. Suresh Kumar, (Principal Secretary, GoWB) were the Guests of Honours in the Opening Session, who took turns to speak. The Conference Abstract Volume, 3rd and 4th volumes of the Journal of Indian Geomorphology, and two books on geomorphology was released during the Opening Session. Finally, Vote of Thanks was given by Prof. Lakshminarayan Satpati, Organising Secretary of the Conference. Subsequently, the 6th Professor Subhash Ranjan Basu Memorial Lecture was delivered by the eminent geomorphologist Prof. M.N. Koul, followed by six plenary lectures. Details of the Plenary Sessions (I & II) are as follows.
Plenary Lecture Session - I Chair: Hari Shankar Sharma Venue: Vivekananda Hall Co-chair: Soumendu Chatterjee
— M.N. Koul PROF. S.R. BASU MEMORIAL LECTURE: Drass Valley Glaciers (Ladakh Himalaya) ‘Climate Change Effect’: An Overview of Morphology and Dynamics of Machoi Glacier Lecture-I Vishwas S. Kale Geomorphosites in India: Glimpses of India's Incredible Geodiversity and Geoheritage Lecture-II Saibal Ghosh Knowledge-driven Predictive Method of Landslide Susceptibility – A Key to Prepare Medium Scale Landslide Susceptibility Map of India
Plenary Lecture Session - II Chair: N. Chandrasekar Venue: Vivekananda Hall Co-chair: Pramod Kumar S. Hire Lecture-III Amal Kar Time-Series Analysis of Land Degradation Trends and Drivers: An Experiment with Aeolian Time Series in Thar Desert Lecture-IV Srikumar Chattopadhyay Laterisation, Geomorphology and Land Management: Case of Kerala Lecture-V Avijit Gupta The Changing Physical Environment of Cities Lecture-VI Dhrubajyoti Ghosh East Kolkata Wetlands: To Be or Not to Be
In the subsequent days (25 & 26 November 2016), 165 papers (including invited papers) – 145 as oral presentations and 20 as posters – were presented in the Conference. 21 parallel Technical Sessions were held in four seminar halls at the Taraknath Palit Shiksha Prangan of the University of Calcutta, covering the focal theme and sub-themes of the meet. Maximum number of papers were from West Bengal, followed by Maharashtra, Utter Pradesh, Meghalaya and Assam.
106 100
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60 presenting presenting Author(s) - 40
16 20 12 7 5 4 No.Paper of 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
State / Country (n=165)
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The maximum numbers of abstracted (39) were in the theme of Landforms and Earth System Processes. Theme-wise distribution of presented papers (excluding invited papers) is given below.
Geomorphosites and Geotourism 9
Sustainable Resource Management, Planning and Geomorphology 24
Urban Geomorphology 11
Application of Modelling and Geoinformatics to Geomorphological Studies 21
Geomorphology in Ecology and Environment Management 13
Landforms and Earth System Processes 39 Themes Tectonic and Structural Geomorphology 5
Geomorphology and Natural Hazards 35
0 10 20 30 40 Number of Presentations (n=157, excl invited papers)
The Conference included two well-attended Panel Discussions. The first one of these was named Lower Gangetic Delta: Geomorphic problems. The event was chaired by Prof. Srikumar Chattopadhyay and participated by Dr. Kalyan Rudra, Prof. Ashis Kumar Paul, and Dr. Anurag Danda. The second Panel Discussion was themed Himalayan & Sub-Himalayan West Bengal: Geomorphic Problems, and was chaired by Prof. M.N. Koul. The participants were Dr. Parthasarathi Chakrabarti, Prof. Subir Sarkar, and Prof. Sunil Kumar De. Exhibitions Four scientific and book exhibitions were held at the premises of the Host Department, during 24– 26 November 2016. The participants included three Government departments / agencies – Department of Disaster Management, GoWB, Geological Survey of India, National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation – and one publisher, Orient BlackSwan. Field Session A Fieldtrip was organised on 27 November 2016, the final day of the Conference, in the western part of the Indian Sundarban. 49 delegates participated in the event. A field guidebook was prepared by Prof. Ashis Kumar Paul for this purpose. A geomorphological demonstration was also given by him before visiting the field sites along the Saptamukhi Estuary. The trip, manly conducted on river vessels, included places like Tat, Prentice, and Lothian Islands. The visit was escorted and guided by Prof. Sunando Bandyopadhyay and Dr. Subhamita Chaudhuri. Sponsors The 29th IGI Conference was financially supported by the University of Calcutta and Science and Engineering Research Board, DST, GoI. Sponsorship, through purchase of exhibition space and advertisements, were made by the Geological Survey of India, Department of Disaster Management, GoWB, West Bengal Pollution Control Board, National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation, and Department of Consumers Affair, GoWB. Support was also extended by The Tantuja (A Govt. of West Bengal Enterprise), Orient BlackSwan Publication, RS-GIS Solutions, Sarat Book House, Unique Travels, Investment solutions and the Samaskriti Art Gallery. The organisers are thankful to all delegates and sponsors for making the conference successful. More conference-related documents including the Abstracts Volume can be found at www.indiageomorph.org/abstractvolumes.
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Glimpses of the Conference
Release of Journal of Indian Geomorphology at the Inaugural Delegates at the Plenary Session at the Vivekananda Hall, Session at the Vivekananda Hall, Kolkata, 24 November 2016 Kolkata, 24 November 2016
One of the two Panel Discussions at the KG Bagchi Memorial One of the 21 Technical Sessions at the SP Chatterjee Memorial Hall, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, 25 November 2016 Hall, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, 26 November 2016
Cultural Evening at the Rowing Club, University of Calcutta, Geomorphological Trip to Sundarban in two river vessels with Kolkata, 24 November 2016 selected field stops; conducted on 27 November 2018
Images of front covers of Conference Circular, Conference Abstracts Volume, and Journal of Indian Geomorphology (Volumes 3 & 4)
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