Mapping of Soil Erosion Zones of Meghadrigedda Catchment, Visakhapatnam, India for Conservation <br/>—A Geospatial Approach

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.