Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

AN ASSESSMENT OF FACTORS INFLUENCING MORPHOMETRY OFTHE HIMALAYAN RIVERS CHENAB AND TEESTA

Ravi Kumar, Pratibha Prakash, Naveen Malik and Sudha Tiwari

Abstract

Water resource is rapidly falling short to meet the needs of the population worldwide. The unjustanthropogenic activities have led countries to water stressed/scarce conditions, higher number ofhydrological disasters such as floods, droughts and descending levels of groundwater. Being an alpineregion, the trans Himalayan region is among the most susceptible regions of the world to the climatechange. In this study, the comparative morphometric assessment was made of the eastern and westernregions of the alpine zones of the Himalayas. Morphometry of the river basin is a step towards waterresource management which provides baseline statistical data about river water. Both river basins werecompared using morphometric parameters and further on the basis of 4th order watersheds. The studyrevealed significant differences in both the basins where the upper Chenab basin has a comparativelyhigher water discharge, more powerful geological control and lesser basin lag time. The upper Teesta basindemands more management strategies to cope up with higher soil erosion and floods.