28th Indian Institute of Geomorphologists (IGI) Conference and National Seminar on HUMAN IMPACT ON LANDSCAPES (29 - 31ST October, 2015) Souvenir & Abstract Volume organized by Department of Geography North-Eastern Hill University Shillong 793022, Meghalaya, India In collaboration with Indian Council of Social Science Research, NE Region; Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong 1 28th IGI Conference & National Seminar on Human Impact on Landscapes 28th Indian Institute of Geomorphologists (IGI) Conference and National Seminar on HUMAN IMPACT ON LANDSCAPES (29 - 31ST October, 2015) Souvenir & Abstract Volume organized by Department of Geography North-Eastern Hill University Shillong 793022, Meghalaya, India In collaboration with Indian Council of Social Science Research, NE Region; Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong 1 28th IGI Conference & National Seminar on Human Impact on Landscapes 2 28th IGI Conference & National Seminar on Human Impact on Landscapes PREFACE The role of human beings acting as geomorphological agents is indicated by the fact that at least one third of the Earth's continental surface of 149 million km2 is a scene of direct or indirect anthropo-geomorphological activity. At the turn of the millennium arable land and plantations covered an area of 15 million km2, grazing lands 35 million km2 and built-up areas 2 million km2. In addition to this, a considerable portion of forests covering 38 million km2 were also under intensive human impact. The areal extension of human activities, however, cannot be adopted as quantitative or qualitative indicators of anthropo-geomorphological impact on the Earth's surface, because the influence of economic activities related to land-use types may substantially differ from one another. The determination of this value, however, is not easy. On one hand, certain human activities (forest clearing, ploughing, grazing, etc.) characteristically modify landforms in an indirect way, e.g. by altering natural erosion processes, on the other hand, there are no precise statistical data concerning the amount of the earth moved by direct anthropo-geomorphological activities. Materials moved by other geo- morphic processes are considerably lower. Due to technological progress and increasing demand, humans are irreversibly changing the micro- and meso-scale topography of the Earth. To discuss on various issues related to that aspect by different academicians and scientists from different field, the Department of Geography, North-Eastern Hill University is hosting this particular Seminar on "Hu- man Impact on Landscapes", on the occasion of 28th Annual Conference of the Indian Institute Geomor- phologists (IGI) during 29- 31st October, 2015. We, on behalf of the Organizing Committee, thank all the Members of the Executive Committee of the Indian Institute of Geomoprhologists to give us the chance to hold this Conference. The volume has been designed with great care by arranging the abstracts according to the relevant sub- themes so that the participants can easily go through the pages of their interest. 171 abstracts have been included in 7 subthemes. Some of the abstracts are so generalized that their subthemes could not be deter- mined properly for which they have been placed close to their subthemes. Some of the abstracts crossed the limit of 300 words for which they have been edited in order to bring them within the word limit. Abstracts for plenary and lead lectures have not been changed. A separate section has been made for the abstracts of the Young Geomorphologists competition which, we believe, is going to be a special attraction of the Conference. This Souvenir and Abstract volume is the outcome of sincere efforts of all our colleagues, scholars and students. No word is enough to thank them all. We are also thankful to Beta Analytic Inc.,USA who have accorded their kind help in bringing out this volume. We gratefully acknowledge the financial support rendered by ICSSR (North Eastern Region), Ministry of Earth Sciences, New Delhi to organize this Conference and National Seminar. Prof. H. J. Syiemlieh Prof. Sunil Kumar De Head & Convener Organizing Secretary 28th IGI Conference and National Seminar 28th IGI Conference and National Seminar 12.10.2015 3 28th IGI Conference & National Seminar on Human Impact on Landscapes NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE of the INDIAN INSTITUTE OF GEOMORPHOLOGISTS (IGI) PRESIDENT SECRETARY Prof. S. N. Karlekar, Pune Prof. Savindra Singh, Allahabad VICE- PRESIDENTS JOINT SECRETARIES Prof. Alok Dubey (Allahabad) Dr. Ashwajeet Chaudhary (Allahabad ) Prof. D.D. Chauniyal (Garhwal,Srinagar) Dr. Anju Gupa (Kurukshetra) Prof. Rolee Kanchan (Vadodara) Dr. Subhamita Chaudhuri ( Kolkata) Dr. S.P.Agnihotri (Kalakankar) Dr. Sudhakar Pardeshi (Pune) TREASURER Dr.A.R.Siddiqui (Allahabad) MEMBERS Prof. Hema Achyuthan (Chennai) Prof. R.K.Ganjoo (Jammu) Dr. Padmini Pani (New Delhi) Prof. V.S. Kale (Pune) Prof. H.S. Sharma (Jaipur) Dr. P.L.Tamta (Jaunpur) Dr. P.K. Singh (Kalakankar) Prof. Jeetendra Shukla (Ranchi) Dr. Ashish Kumar Paul (Medinipur) Dr. Amal Kar (Kolkata) Dr. Anupam Pandey (Allahabad ) Dr. Anargha Dhorde (Pune ) CO-OPTED MEMBERS Prof. S.S.Ojha (Allahabad) Dr.M.S.Singh (Allahabad ) Prof. G.K.Panda (Bhubneshwar) Prof. L.N. Satpathy (Kolkata) Dr. Pramod Kumar Hire (Nashik) Dr. Biswajit Bera (Kolkata), Dr. Soumendu Chatterjee (Kolkata) Dr. Sarabjit Kaur (Ludhiana) Dr. Anita Pandey (Nainital) Dr. Virendra Nagrale (Pune) Dr. H.J.Syiemlieh (Shilllong) Prof. N.Chandrasekar (Tirunelveli) Dr. D.P.Upadhyay (Jaunpur) Dr. Prashant Magar (Pune) Prof. R.C. Pathak (Pune) EDITOR Prof. Sunando Bandyopadhyay (Kolkata) INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENCE SECRETARY Prof. Sunil Kumar De (Shillong) 4 28th IGI Conference & National Seminar on Human Impact on Landscapes ORGANIZING COMMITTEE PATRON Prof. K. Srivastava Hon'ble Vice Chancellor, North-Eastern Hill University CHAIRMAN Prof. D. K. Nayak Dean, School of Human and Environmental Sciences, North-Eastern Hill University CONVENER Prof. H. J. Syiemlieh Head, Department of Geography, North-Eastern Hill University JOINT CONVENER Prof. Zahid Huusen Qureshi Department of Geography, North-Eastern Hill University ORGANIZING SECRETARY Prof. Sunil Kumar De Department of Geography, North-Eastern Hill University JOINT ORGANIZING SECRETARY Dr. P. K. Ryngnga Department of Geography, North-Eastern Hill University RECEPTION AND REGISTRATION SUB-COMMITTEE TECHNICAL SUB-COMMITTEE Dr. Subrata Purkayastha (Convener) Prof. A. C. Mohapatra (Convener) Mr. P. G. Momin (Member) Prof. Sunil Kumar De (Member) Michael George (Member) Mr. Savings Kharpuli (Member) Malay Mondal (Member) Dr. P. K. Ryngnga (Member) TRANSPORT SUB-COMMITTEE ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD SUB-COMMITTEE Mr. Dany Marius Synnah (Convener) Prof. B. S. Mipun (Convener) Dr. P. K. Ryngnga (Member) VENUE MANAGEMENT AND DECORATION CULTURAL SUB-COMMITTEE SUB-COMMITTEE Mr. P. G. Momin (Convener) Dr. P.K.Ryngnga (Convener) Mr. Bhaktaram Mawroh (Member Prof. Sunil Kumar De (Member) 5 28th IGI Conference & National Seminar on Human Impact on Landscapes NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE Prof. Savindra Singh Dr. Prithvish Nag Formerly in University of Allahabad, Allahabad M G Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi Prof. V. S. Kale Prof. H. S. Sharma Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune Formerly in University of Rajasthan, Jaipur Prof. Sunando Bandyopadhyay Prof. D. C. Goswami University of Calcutta, Kolkata Formerly in Gauhati University, Gauhati Prof. S. N. Karlekar Prof. R. K. Ganjoo Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, Pune University of Jammu, J & K Prof. Subir Sarkar Dr. Amal Kar North Bengal University, Darjiling Formerly in CAZRI, Jodhpur Prof. S.C. Mukhopadhyay Prof. M. N. Kaul Formerly in University of Calcutta, Kolkata Formerly in University of Jammu, J & K Prof. N. C. Chandrasekhar Prof. Hema Achyuthan M.S. University, Tirunelveli Anna University, Chennai Dr. Srikumar Chattopadhyay Prof. L. N. Satpati Formerly in CESS, Thiruvananthapuram University of Calcutta, Kolkata Prof. Veena U. Joshi Prof. Sutapa Mukhopadhyay Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune Visva-Bharati, Shantiniketan Prof. Milap Chand Sharma Prof. Sultan Bhat Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi University of Kashmir, J & K Prof. R. D. Gurjar Prof. S. K. Patnaik University of Rajasthan, Jaipur Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar Prof. Rolee Kanchan Dr. Ashis Kumar Paul University of Baroda, Vadodara Vidyasagar University, Medinipur Dr. Subhomita Choudhuri Dr. Sudhakar Pardeshi West Bengal State University, Kolkata Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune Dr. Anju Gupta Dr. Padmini Pani Kurukhetra University, Kurukshetra Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi Dr. A. R. Siddiqui Dr. Ramkrishna Maity University of Allahabad, Allahabad Vidyasagar University, Medinipur Dr. Soumendu Chatterjee Dr. Siddhinath Sarma Presidency University, Kolkata Goalpara College, Assam Dr. Saptarshi Mitra Dr. Biswajit Bera Tripura University, Agartala Bijoy Krishna Girls College, Kolkata 6 28th IGI Conference & National Seminar on Human Impact on Landscapes LIST OF ABSTRACTS The University 21 Department of Geography-at a glance 21-24 Presidential Address- S. N. Karlekar 25-30 Key-note address: Eric Fouache 31-36 Prof. S. Basu Memorial Lecture: N. Chandrasekhar 37-58 PLENARY LECTURES Vishwas S. KALE India's geoheritage: a method for classification of geomorphosites in India 60 Subir SARKAR Evolution and transformation of river channels in the Himalayan foreland of West Bengal, India 60 H.S.