The Brahmaputra Basin Water Resources

626 Pages·2004·18.524 MB·English

by  C. S. P. Ojha, V. P. Singh (auth.), Vijay P. Singh, Nayan Sharma, C. Shekhar P. Ojha (eds.)

THE BRAHMAPUTRA BASIN WATER RESOURCES
Water Science and Technology Library
VOLUME 47
Editor-in-Chief
V. P. Singh, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, U.S.A.
Editorial Advisory Board
M. Anderson, Bristol, U.K.
L. Bengtsson, Lund, Sweden
J. F. Cruise, Huntsville, U.S.A.
u. C. Kothyari, Roorkee, India
S.B. Serrano, Philadelphia, U.S.A.
D. Stephenson, Johannesburg, SouthAfrica
W.G. Strupczewski, Warsaw, Poland
The titles published in this series are listed at the end o/this volume.
THE BRAHMAPUTRA BASIN
WATER RESOURCES
edited by
VIJAY P. SINGH
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, U.S.A.
NAYAN SHARMA
Water Resources Development Training Centre,
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Uttaranchal, India
and
C. SHEKHARP. OJHA
Department of Civil Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Uttaranchal, India
SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.
A c.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-90-481-6481-3 ISBN 978-94-017-0540-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-0540-0
Printed on acid-free paper
All Rights Reserved
© 2004 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
Origina11y published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 2004
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 2004
No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording
or otherwise, without written permis sion from the Publisher, with the exception
of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered
and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.
Dedicated to
the people of
Northeast India
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication v
Preface xi
Contributors xv
SECTION 1: PRELIMINARIES
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
by C. S. P. Ojha and V. P. Singh
Chapter 2: Weather and Climate 17
by M. Barthakur
Chapter 3: Hydrometeorology 24
by B. Purkait
Chapter 4: Soils and Agriculture 35
by N. C. Talukdar, D. Bhattacharyya and S. Hazarika
Chapter 5: An Overview of the Brahmaputra River System 72
by J.N. Sanna
Chapter 6: Fluvial Geomorphology 88
by A. K. Bora
Chapter 7: Hydrogeology 113
by B. Purkait
SECTION II: HYDROLOGY AND HYDRAULICS
Chapter 8: Hydrology 139
by B. Datta and V. P. Singh
Chapter 9: Channel Processes 196
by A. B. Palaniappan
Chapter 10: Spatio-Temporal Morphological Features 214
by N. Shann~ R. Chakrabarty and C. S. P. Ojha
Vll
Chapter 11: Mathematical Modelling and Braid Indicators 229
byN. Shanna
Chapter 12: Hydraulic Structures 261
by A. K. Sarma
Chapter 13: Scour Around Spurs at Gumi Site 274
by C. S. P. Ojha, N. Sharma and V. K. Talwar
SECTION ITI: WATER RESOURCES PLANNING
CONSTRAINTS
Chapter 14: Water Resources Planning 299
by S.N. Phukan
Chapter 15: Brahmaputra Flooding: Problems for Administration
and Prospects 309
by K. S. Krishna
Chapter 16: Tbe Brahmaputra in Assam's Economy 321
by B. K. Bhattacharya
Chapter 17: Financial Constraint in Assam 326
by A. Sharma
Chapter 18: Society in the Brahmaputra Valley 336
by M. Hussain
Chapter 19: Ecology 351
by B. K. Talukdar
Chapter 20: Wetlands and their Role in the Geo-Ecological Environment 366
byP. Shanna
Chapter 21: Water Quality, Mineral Transport and Sediment
Biogeochemistry 376
by C.Mahanta and V. Subramanian
Chapter 22: Cropping Systems 401
by D. N. Borthakur
SECTION 4: WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 23: Ground Water Development 411
by B. Purkait
Vlll
Chapter 24: Irrigation Development 419
by P. S. Goswami, N. Shanna and C. S. P. Ojha
Chapter 25: Development of Power 436
by P.C.Sharma
Chapter 26: Navigation Development 473
by R. M. Das
Chapter 27: Transport Infrastructural Scenario 520
by S. B. Medhi
Chapter 28: Flood Management 535
by A. K. Mitra
Chapter 29: Remote Sensing and GIS In Flood Management 560
by V. Bhanu Murthy and V. Hari Prasad
Chapter 30: Seismo-Tectonic and Earthquake Design Parameters 578
by A. Sinvhal and V. Prakash
ix
PREFACE
The Brahmaputra River is a precious gift of Nature to India and especially to its
northeast region. The meaning of this gift becomes evident immediately when one
considers the vastness of water resources which the Brahmaputra River basin possesses.
Nearly 30% of India's water resources potential and 41% of the country's total
hydropower potential are found in this basin. In terms of the average discharge, the
Brahmaputra River is the fifth largest river in the world. Traversing a distance of about
2,900 kilometers from Tibet at an elevation of 5,150 meters to the Bay of Bengal and
draining an area of nearly 1.6 million square kilometres shared by Tibet, India and
Bangladesh, it has shaped the social, economic, cultural, religious, political, and
linguistic fabric of the northeast region of India from time immemorial. Its majestic
disposition is nothing short of poetic. The northeast region has a colourful ethnic and
non-ethnic population and represents almost a miniature India. Its biodiversity of flora
and fauna and other natural ecosystems is unsurpassable.
The northeast region of India is endowed with enormous natural resources and the huge
potential of the Brahmaputra River basin. These resources notwithstanding, this part of
India remains woefully underdeveloped. The current state of low development of the
northeast region can arguably be attributed to a multitude of factors. Regardless of the
debate about these factors, what is abundantly clear is that a sustainable development of
this region cannot be achieved without the water resources development of the
Brahmaputra River basin. To that end an integrated basinwide approach is needed. This
approach must combine social, political, economic, administrative, cultural, and legal
considerations with scientific and technological paradigms. It must involve people's
participation and must strive to promote the larger interest of the region rather than the
good of a few. It is these considerations which motivated the undertaking of this book
project. The theme of this book is vast and no single individual has the expertise, the in
depth knowledge, or the experience of all aspects of water resources of the Brahmaputra
basin. Therefore the editors solicited contributions from the people representing
different disciplines bearing on the development of water resources and who are well
known in their speciality areas. It is hoped that this book will stimulate further interest
and development in the Brahmaputra River basin.
The subject matter of this book is divided into four sections encompassing 30 chapters.
The first section, comprising seven chapters, presents preliminaries needed for planning
and developing a water resources project. These relate to the atmosphere, lithology, and
pedology. Introducing the theme of the book in chapter 1, the weather and climate of the
Brahmaputra valley are discussed in chapter 2, followed by a short treatment of
hydrometeorology in chapter 3. Soils and agriculture of the Brahmaputra basin are
presented in chapter 4. The next three chapters deal with various aspects of geology of
this basin. Specifically, chapter 5 presents an overview of the Brahmaputra River,
chapter 6 fluvial geomorphology, and chapter 7 hydrogeology of the Brahmaputra
basin.
Section 2 deals with hydrology and hydraulics that constitute the engineering
xi
foundation of any water resources project. This section comprises 6 chapters. The
hydrology of the Brahmaputra basin is treated in chapter 8. The next five chapters
discuss hydraulic issues. Chapter 9 provides a discussion of channel processes, followed
by a discussion of spatio-temporal morphological features in chapter 10. Mathematical
modelling and braid indicators are treated in chapter 11 and hydraulic structures of the
Brahmaputra basin in chapter 12. The section is concluded with a discussion of scour
around spurs with particular reference to the Gumi site in the basin in chapter 13.
For the planning of water resources a number of constraints must be taken into account.
Section 3, encompassing 9 chapters, is devoted to a discussion of some of these
constraints. Chapter 14 reflects on preliminary considerations required in water
resources planning. Chapter 15 dwells on the problems arising owing to flooding in the
Brahmaputra basin and the prospects for addressing them from an administrative
perspective. The role of the Brahmaputra in Assam's economy is examined in chapter
16, followed by a close look at the financial constraint to development of Assam in
chapter 17. The social and cultural fabric of the Brahmaputra basin is analysed in
chapter 18. The remaining three chapters deal with ecological and environmental issues.
The ecology of the Brahmaputra basin is discussed in chapter 19, followed by a
discussion on wetlands and their role in geo-environment in chapter 20. Water quality,
sediment biogeochemistry, and mineral transport are presented in chapter 21. The
section is concluded with a discussion of cropping systems in the Brahmaputra basin in
chapter 22.
The concluding section 4 is comprised of 8 chapters and deals with water resources
development. Chapter 23 discusses groundwater development, followed by a discussion
of irrigation development in chapter 24. A discussion of power development is
presented in chapter 25. Water resources development may playa key role in the
transport of goods. Chapter 26 discusses navigation and chapter 27 presents transport
infrastructural scenarios. Flooding is an annual problem in the Brahmaputra basin.
Flood management is the theme of chapter 28. For effective flood management modem
tools for data acquisition, such as remote sensing, and processing of such data through
geographical information systems (GIS) are needed and these are discussed in chapter
29. This section is concluded with a discussion of seismotectonic and earthquake design
parameters in chapter 30, for the Brahmaputra basin is one of the most seismically
active areas of the world and this information is vital for design of hydraulic structures.
The book will be useful to engineers, agricultural scientists, environmentalists,
economists, planners, managers, politicians, and administrators who are concerned with
development of water resources in the Brahmaputra basin. The people of the northeast
are the best symbol of the current state of development of their region in general and
what this mighty river has done and can do for them. The book is, therefore, dedicated
to them. The editors would like to take this opportunity to express their deep gratitude
to the contributors who took time from their busy schedules to write their contributions.
The book symbolizes their hard work. Dr. S. Jain, National Institute of Hydrology,
provided invaluable assistance with the final preparation of the book manuscript. His
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