Sedimentation-Induced Depositional Lands of the Gumti River of Tripura and Its Land Use Pattern

Abstract

Sedimentation is the process through which sediment carried by the running water is deposited in suitable places. When the energy of a river to carry load gradually decreases, sediment gets deposited and gives rise to bar formation. Due to gradual siltation, area of bars gradually increases and it eventually turns into stable land which uses to be very fertile. With the passage of time, various human activities started to develop on this fertile land and give rise to diverse land use patterns. Gumti is the largest and longest river of Tripura. Lower course of the river is highly prone to sedimentation. Lots of bar formation can be identified in this part of the river, the area of which gradually increases and gives rise to new depositional land. Thus, the objective of the study is to identify the change in channel plan form (sinuosity index and radius of curvature) during the period 1932 to 2016, to measure the area of depositional land generated during this period and to analyse the present land use pattern of this land. For this purpose, the study area has been categorized into several reaches and the layers of different years have been superimposed. Finally, the land use map of the area has been prepared using Global Mapper Software. The results indicate that the River Gumti is gradually changing its channel pattern from meandering to sinuous by increasing meander wavelength due to combined effect of erosion and sedimentation. Besides, with the passage of time diverse land use pattern has been developed in the sedimentation-induced depositional land, the forms of which eventually change due to increasing human habitation.