Abstract
Abstract. mountain system bound to have a different path of development owing to its fragile ecological and geological setup. Any drastic and abrupt changes in this system can have repercussion beyond mitigation in form of natural disasters. Remote sensing can play a key role in risk assessment and management, particularly when a few simultaneous reasons coincide, for example, susceptibility to natural disaster and the urban sprawl, spreading over highly vulnerable regions. The present study furnish socioeconomic vulnerability mapping of the Bhagirathi basin through computation of the Socio vulnerability Index (SoVI). SoVI correlates vulnerability to natural or anthropogenic disasters to socio – economic development and illustrates how developmental parameters alter equation of potential effect and recovery in event of a natural catastrophe in the study region. An analytical framework has been imparted to understand possible triggering factors of disasters. Built up area expansion; land use land cover change (LULCC) – deforestation, conversion of forested land into agricultural land and residential settlements, and dam project area; road network development; urbanization; population growth & migration and pilgrimage activities are major drivers which put burden on limited carrying capacity of the natural resources. A guideline for policy making has been presented for an integrated and wholesome development incorporating regional developmental aspiration of the people and ingredients of sustainable development.
Highlights
Developmental debate in montane area has always been a controversial one, since one approach is of utilization of natural resources and other assets for conservation of the same for better ecological balance
The global change refers to changes having both natural and anthropogenic causes and encompass among other factors, climate change, land use land cover change, industrialization, urbanization and changes in atmospheric chemistry (Goudie and Cuff, 2002)
The social vulnerability model developed for Bhagirathi basin was inspired by the social vulnerability index (SoVI). [This index was created by Cutter, Mitchell, and Scott, 2003 to measure the social vulnerability].Cutter et al 2003 methodology has been adopted for development of Socio vulnerability Index (SoVI)
Summary
Developmental debate in montane area has always been a controversial one, since one approach is of utilization of natural resources and other assets for conservation of the same for better ecological balance. Remote sensing technology is one proven strategy to better document, characterize and quantify risk assessment and management (Nayak and Zlatanova, 2008; Franci et al, 2014) This information is vital input for various developmental, environmental and resource planning applications, and regional as well as global scale process models. In this study attempt has been made to harness the potential of remote sensing datasets, GIS techniques and analysis of information for disaster management It explores the levels of socio-economic vulnerability calculated through SVI in Bhagirathi basin depicting developmental concern of the region. An analysis of possible drivers of LULCC which could be intermediate cause for natural or anthropogenic disaster, i.e. floods, landslides having impact on the lives of residents This study adopted both spatial and socio-economic analysis with help of remote sensing and socio-economic data from census of India. Relevance of this study lies in purveying with guidelines to policy makers regarding vulnerability assessment of the region and a relationship of the developmental projects with sustained livelihood alternatives for inhabitants having ecological sensitivity of the region in background
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