Geomorphic and Ecological Assessment of Lower Silai  Corridor for Stream Restoration

Geomorphic and Ecological Assessment of Lower Silai Corridor for Stream Restoration

dc.contributor.advisor	Patel, Priyank Pravin
dc.creator.researcher	Mondal, Sayoni
dc.date.accessioned	2024-08-05T05:04:34Z
dc.date.available	2024-08-05T05:04:34Z
dc.description.abstract	The increased intensity of anthropogenic activities, which are mostly concentrated within river corridors, has altered the natural functioning of fluvial systems beyond their regeneration capacity. Therefore, much attention has devolved towards riparian zone conservation and management using integrated hydromorphological approaches for sustaining the overall river health. While such approaches have been adopted for various basins worldwide, they have seldom been applied to Indian rivers, particularly in West Bengal. In this study, the Silai River Basin, which encompasses part of the eastern fringe of the Chotanagpur Plateau in Puruliya and the alluvial plains of Bankura and Paschim Medinipur Districts in West Bengal, has been analysed to ascertain the efficacy of bioengineering solutions in mitigating the common fluvial/anthropogenic hazards prevalent in its riparian zone towards restoring the stream's hydromorphological health. The overall reach-wise ecogeomorphic character of the river and its present health status has been examined using multi-metric indices that seek to assess river health based on the channel's morphological, hydrological and ecological functionality, highlighting sites that are impaired and commonly afflicted by hazards such as floods and riverbank erosion, sand mining activities and consequent soil loss and land degradation. A detailed analysis of these hazards enable pinpointing of sites where possible bioengineering solutions (live grass buffers) can mitigate the ambient river health degradation. The effectiveness of Vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanioides) as a soil and water conservation tool is investigated along the River Ketia, a spillchannel of the Silai River, to gauge the impacts of this grass' root network on those soil physicochemical properties that contribute towards increased soil cohesion and slope stabilisation. The performed 1-D simulation modelling to examine the effect of the grass' aboveground biomass in reducing flood velocities and retarding excess overland flow also yielded positive results. Therefore, installing these grass buffers along bare, eroded slopes that are affected by soil loss, can become a viable solution to reduce the volume of overland flow and sediments reaching the channel, helping to lessen flooding in the region. Hence such environment-friendly and cost-effective grass buffers can become sustainable riparian conservation tools to restore the already much degraded river basins across India.	en_US
dc.description.searchVisibility	true	en_US
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	https://www.presiuniv.ac.in	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://www.presiuniv.ndl.iitkgp.ac.in/handle/123456789/2453
dc.language.iso	eng	en_US
dc.rights.accessRights	authorized	en_US
dc.source	Presidency University	en_US
dc.source.uri	https://www.presiuniv.ac.in	en_US
dc.subject	Flood control	en_US
dc.subject	Geography	en_US
dc.subject	History and Geography	en_US
dc.subject	Riparian ecology	en_US
dc.subject	Social Sciences	en_US
dc.title	Geomorphic and Ecological Assessment of Lower Silai Corridor for Stream Restoration	en_US
dc.type	text	en_US