TITLE:
Mapping of Soil Erosion Zones of Meghadrigedda Catchment, Visakhapatnam, India for Conservation —A Geospatial Approach
AUTHORS:
Usha Chirala, Murali Krishna Gurram, Nooka Ratnam Kinthada
KEYWORDS:
Meghadrigedda, GIS and Remote Sensing, Erosion, Siltation of the Reservoir, Soil Conservation
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Geosciences,
Vol.6 No.4,
April
7,
2015
ABSTRACT: Meghadrigedda, a
non-perennial drainage system is one of the major water resources of
Vishakhapatnam city located in the northern coastal region of Andhra Pradesh,
India. It traverses through the hilly terrain of Eastern GhatMobile Belt (EGMB)
characterized by khondalitic rock formations. Excessive siltation scenario
aggravated due to soil erosion in its catchment is threatening the very
existence of Meghadrigedda reservoir. In order to assess the intensity of soil
erosion as well as silt deposition in the reservoir, an integrated study has
been undertaken which takes into consideration various topographic,
morphological, soil, and land use/land cover characteristics of the basin. The
study aims at identification and mapping of erosion prone zones with respect to
silt deposition using remote sensing and GIS techniques.Alteration in human
induced land use practices in its catchment due to rapid growth in population,
urbanization and industrialization are found to be of prime reasons for various
forms of erosion. The study has noticed that various forms of erosion like
sheet, gully and stream erosion are responsible for the siltation at large
scale which is causing reduction of its designed storage capacity by 40%.
Various sub-watersheds of the basin have been prioritized on the basis of
erosion intensity for suggesting various mitigation measures like check-dam
construction, afforestation etc. to protect the reservoir from the silting
problem.