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Eco-Geomorphic Assessment of the Varanasi Turtle Sanctuary and its Implication for Ganga River Conservation


Affiliations
1 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal - 462 066, India
2 Ganga Aqualife Conservation Monitoring Centre, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun - 248 001, India
3 Department of Landscape Level Planning and Management, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun - 248 001, India
4 Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur - 208 016, India
 

The eco-geomorphology of the Varanasi Turtle Sanctuary (VTS) located on the Ganga River in Uttar Pradesh, India was examined for its stability using hydraulic geometry of the channels, such as width, depth and discharge acquired from an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler, and the mapping of planform morphology from remote-sensing images. Planform maps were generated using Corona and Landsat satellite images for the period 1965–2018. The assessment suggests a well-defined, stable cross-section profile along this stretch of the river. It provides conclusive evidence that the geomorphology of the Ganga River within the VTS has remained stable for the past 50 years, except for some minor changes in the form of bar growth and erosion both upstream and downstream of the sanctuary. Construction activities along the bank, movement of large vessels, sand mining in the sanctuary or dredging of the main channel may destabilize the river geomorphology that will negatively affect the integrity of the VTS as well as the ghats at Varanasi.

Keywords

Hydraulic Geometry, Planform Morphology, River Conservation, Turtle Sanctuary.
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  • Eco-Geomorphic Assessment of the Varanasi Turtle Sanctuary and its Implication for Ganga River Conservation

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Authors

Gaurav Kailash Sonkar
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal - 462 066, India
Kumar Gaurav
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal - 462 066, India
Niladri Dasgupt
Ganga Aqualife Conservation Monitoring Centre, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun - 248 001, India
Syed Ainul Hussain
Department of Landscape Level Planning and Management, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun - 248 001, India
Rajiv Sinha
Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur - 208 016, India

Abstract


The eco-geomorphology of the Varanasi Turtle Sanctuary (VTS) located on the Ganga River in Uttar Pradesh, India was examined for its stability using hydraulic geometry of the channels, such as width, depth and discharge acquired from an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler, and the mapping of planform morphology from remote-sensing images. Planform maps were generated using Corona and Landsat satellite images for the period 1965–2018. The assessment suggests a well-defined, stable cross-section profile along this stretch of the river. It provides conclusive evidence that the geomorphology of the Ganga River within the VTS has remained stable for the past 50 years, except for some minor changes in the form of bar growth and erosion both upstream and downstream of the sanctuary. Construction activities along the bank, movement of large vessels, sand mining in the sanctuary or dredging of the main channel may destabilize the river geomorphology that will negatively affect the integrity of the VTS as well as the ghats at Varanasi.

Keywords


Hydraulic Geometry, Planform Morphology, River Conservation, Turtle Sanctuary.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv116%2Fi12%2F2063-2071