DETECTION OF HAZARD PRONE AREAS IN THE UPPER HIMALAYAN REGION IN GIS ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

Himalayas are a great boon to India as they block the monsoon winds from the oceans, allowing the northern plain to receive plenty of rainfall. The rivers Ganga and Brahmaputra are fed by the snow of the higher peaks, and these also protect from the cold biting winds o North Asia. But it is this Himalayan range again, which is one of the biggest hotspots of natural disasters, because they are still growing and young mountains and the changing climate of the globe has added to the frequency and extent of such disasters. This paper involves the study of the Basin of Alakananda River, a tributary of the Ganges, so as to delineate the flood prone zones of the area. Almost every year this region is affected by cloudbursts and consequent floods. The parameters taken into consideration here are the slope, the river networks and the soil type of the area. River Tools has been used to extract the stream networks of the river. Consequent analysis has been carried out in ArcGIS. The results of the analysis show that the topology of the area is highly dangerous for any urbanization. Villages constructed on this region are very much vulnerable to heavy floods due to the loose soil type present on the surface and the steep slope. The study identifies such highly vulnerable regions in the Alakananda River Basin.