Narmada Research Articles

A comparative study of variations in nutritional components of Channa striatus fish during pre-monsoon, post-monsoon and winter season of Narmada river, M.P, India

Fishes are considered as a good source of proteins, essential fatty acids and minerals. People with high fish intake have lower rates of acute myocardial infarctions and atherosclerosis, better cognitive functions and better neural and visual development in fetus. In the present work, it was evaluated that the seasonal variations in nutritional components of Channa striatus fish with respect to three different seasons during year 2021 i.e. pre-monsoon (Summers), post-monsoon and winter season taken from Aliganj, Narmada Ghat flowing through Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh was seen. Nutritional components like carbohydrate, protein and lipids are severely influenced with the change in season and water quality parameters. The nutritional analysis showed that all the main three nutritional components i.e. Protein, carbohydrate and lipid content of Channa striatus was seen maximum in the winter season (i.e. 33.64 µg/gm, 526.51 mg/l and 24.07mg respectively) followed by post-monsoon season (28.51 µg/gm, 523.4 mg/l and 22.12 mg respectively) and pre-monsoon (24.66 µg/gm, 502.1mg/l and 19.07 mg respectively).In general results suggested that the Channa striatus fish species of Narmada River of winter season contains the best nutritive value as compared to pre monsoon and post-monsoon. Hence consumption is more beneficial in winter season

Late Pleistocene history of aggradation and incision within a bedrock gorge, Narmada River, central India: implications for resurgent tectonic activity and changing climate

Bedrock gorges occurring on the Indian Peninsula are sites of intense erosive activity where thick sequences of fluvial sediments are conspicuously absent. We identified unusually thick and coarse fluvial sequences within the Dhadgaon (DG) gorge in the lower reaches of the Narmada River in central India. Stratigraphic interpretations, sediment character and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages revealed episodic aggradation at ~70 ka and ~28 ka in response to tectonically induced steepening of the upstream channel gradient. Incision of the DG gorge and sedimentation of the alluvial fan downstream was facilitated by a climatically induced decrease in the sediment supply/discharge ratio in addition to the tectonic slope. The final evacuation of sediments from the DG gorge and incision of the Banganga channel occurred during the early Holocene. Collectively, the results show a major influence of tectonics, hillslope processes and lithology on aggradation–incision patterns supported by climatic conditions during the late Quaternary.

Climate Change Impact Assessment on Stream flow of Ganjal River, India

Hydrological models often predict a changing situation, necessitating further research into models to make water resource management more realistic. This study uses soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model to analyse the possible effect of climate change on the future streamflow of the Ganjal river watershed. It is located in middle sub-basin of the Narmada River, India. The model was calibrated for 1988-2007 and validated for 2008-2015 using monthly discharge data at the watershed outlet. The calibrated model was then run for the future (2025-52) using climate model output. The study of climate change is completed using the Representative Concentration Pathway scenarios, RCP 4.5 and 8.5 of three different General Circulation Models (GCM). The downscaled output of these GCM from the Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) has been used in this study after bias correction. The findings demonstrate the significance of climate change’s effect on streamflow.

A Bayesian Hierarchical Framework for Postprocessing Daily Streamflow Simulations across a River Network

Abstract Despite the potential and increasing interest in physically based hydrological models for streamflow forecasting applications, they are constrained in terms of agility to generate ensembles. Hence, we develop and test a Bayesian hierarchical model (BHM) to postprocess physically based hydrologic model simulations at multiple sites on a river network, with the aim to generate probabilistic information (i.e., ensembles) and improve raw model skill. We apply our BHM framework to daily summer (July–August) streamflow simulations at five stations located in the Narmada River basin in central India, forcing the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model with observed rainfall. In this approach, daily observed streamflow at each station is modeled with a conditionally independent probability density function with time varying distribution parameters, which are modeled as a linear function of potential covariates that include VIC outputs and meteorological variables. Using suitable priors on the parameters, posterior parameters and predictive posterior distributions—and thus ensembles—of daily streamflow are obtained. The best BHM model considers a gamma distribution and uses VIC streamflow and a nonlinear covariate formulated as the product of VIC streamflow and 2-day precipitation spatially averaged across the area between the current and upstream station. The second covariate enables correcting the time delay in flow peaks and nonsystematic biases in VIC streamflow. The results show that the BHM postprocessor increases probabilistic skill in 60% compared to raw VIC simulations, providing reliable ensembles for most sites. This modeling approach can be extended to combine forecasts from multiple sources and provide skillful multimodel ensemble forecasts.

Modelling Rainfall-runoff Process for Sub Catchment of Narmada River Basin at Hoshangabad Using Semi Distributed Model HBV

In this study, the light version of HydrologiskaByransVattenbalansavdelning hydrological model (HBV),has been used to synthesize river discharge and daily flow series for twelve years in the sub catchments ofthe Narmada river basin at Hoshangabad. The plain area of Narmada river basin at Hoshangabad is usedfor this study,with a drainage area of 10594 km2 and co-ordinates lies between 22°46’Nand 77°43’E. Themodel was run using twelve years data. Parametrization of parameters were obtained after warming,calibration and validating the results. There after the sensitivity analysis was done and acceptable rangefor each parameter was obtained. The Coefficient of Determination of observed and simulated discharge atthe Hoshangabad was found to be 0.84. In Narmada River Basin at Hoshangabad hydrological modelingusing the HBV model, MAXBAS is the most sensitive parameter. The sensitive parameters from high to lowalong with their slopes values are Maxbas: 0.23, Alpha: 0.018, Fc: 0.012, K1:0.010, Beta: 0.008, K2: 0.005,Perc: 0.001 and Lp 0.001. The study shows that light version of the HBV model can be used to model therunoff of the sub catchment of the Narmada river basin at Hoshangabad.

Microplastic Pollution in the Shore Sediments of Narmada River Along Jabalpur City

Microplastics, due to their microscopic size, constitute a concern to aquatic species since they are easier to consume and the recent discovery of microplastic in human blood shows that these may also have undisclosed health effects on humans. This study provides microplastic characteristics and abundance of microplastics in the shore sediments of Narmada river flowing along Jabalpur City. The information about the presence of microplastics can be crucial in preventing further pollution and developing management interventions. Sediments samples were collected from 4 sites along a 50 km stretch of the river. Sample pretreatment was performed using ZnCl2 solution for density separation and H2O2 for oxidation of organic material. Microplastics examination was carried out using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Microplastics in the 20-1000 μm size range were found to be more abundant (114-273 MP/Kg) than larger microplastics in the 1-5 mm size range (18-110 MP/Kg). This research presents the first accounts of microplastic pollution in the shore sediments of Narmada River and it emphasizes the need for more in-depth research into microplastic pollution in fresh water sources.

Geometry and age of a mafic dyke emplaced along the Bhetkheda–Mohana Lineament, Central Narmada valley, Deccan Volcanic Province

Geometry and age of a mafic dyke emplaced along the Bhetkheda–Mohana Lineament, Central Narmada valley, Deccan Volcanic Province

Spatiotemporal dependence of soil moisture and precipitation over India

Anthropogenic climate change has impacted almost all phases of the global water cycle. Growing consensus asserts that extreme precipitation events will only rise in the years to come. However, an increase in extreme precipitation events does not necessarily correspond to higher flood risk. Much onus lies on the antecedent conditions before the storm events. Despite the importance of Soil Moisture (SM) – Precipitation (P) dependence in runoff generation, relatively few studies have unraveled the SM – P dependence. Previous studies were constrained by the direct trivial relationship existing between SM and P, and hence there is a need to understand direction and dynamical interdependency. We employed Event Coincidence Analysis (ECA) to identify and quantify the preconditioning of P extremes by soil moisture (SM) anomalies. High precursor coincidence rate (greater than45%) was obtained for traditional flash flood-prone areas over India - Ganga river basin, West-flowing rivers of Kutch and Saurashtra including Luni, inland drainage of Rajasthan and Narmada river basin, indicating the robustness of the approach. The trigger coincidence rate reveals strong SM-P coupling over central India. Our results indicate the applicability of ECA in characterizing the spatiotemporal patterns of SM-P dependence over India.

Comparative study of variations in nutritional components of Channa striatus fish during pre-monsoon, post monsoon and winter season of Narmada River, Hoshangabad M.P India

Fish are a good nutritional source of proteins, essential fatty acids and minerals. People with high fish intake have lower rates of acute myocardial infarctions and atherosclerosis, better cognitive functions and better neural and visual development in fetus. In the present work, we evaluated the seasonal variations in nutritional value of Channa striatus including total carbohydrate, protein and lipid content with respect to three seasons i.e. pre-monsoon, post monsoon and winter season of Narmada River from Bandhrabhan, Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh. Nutritional components like carbohydrate, protein and lipids are severely influenced with the change in season and water quality parameters. The nutritional analysis showed that all the main three nutritional components i.e. Protein, carbohydrate and lipid content of Channa striatus is seen maximum in the winter season followed by post-monsoon and pre-monsoon. In general results suggested that the Channa striatus fish species of Narmada River of winter season contains the best nutritive value as compared to pre monsoon and post-monsoon. Hence consumption is more beneficial in winter season.

Trend analysis of hydro-meteorological parameters and influence of anthropogenic activities in lower Narmada River basin, India

This research aims to assess the changes that have occurred over a time in hydro-meteorological parameters over Lower Narmada River basin (LNRB) in India. The spatio-temporal trend distribution of rainfall for three data span 1962–2013, 1975–2013, 1998–2013, and maximum (max.) and minimum (min.) temperature at annual-scale for time span 1979–2013 have been represented over LNRB. The spatial distribution of these trends is associated with land use and land cover (LULC) and its changes and the local dynamics and anthropogenic activities of the region. Spatial-temporal distribution of trend of annual rainfall has shown that positive and higher trend rate proliferates in the LNRB in the time series 1998–2013. The trend rate (mm/year) in LNRB for annual rainfall is 0.84, −1.1, and 2.69 in time series 1962–2013, 1975–2013, and 1998–2013 respectively. Annual max. and min. temperature has shown 0.05° and 0.15 °C increase per decade respectively. Associating LULC of the region, it is revealed that temperature trends tend to create moderate climatic conditions on the area adjacent to sea in the region. Further, it is concluded that the forest area of the region, resists the changes related to temperature. The industrial center in the study area has shown a negative trend of annual rainfall.

Introducing Pandado: a newly discovered Acheulean site in the central Narmada Valley (CNV), India

ABSTRACT The central Narmada valley (CNV) is well-known for yielding rich Paleolithic and fossil sites in the Indian Subcontinent. The earliest dated evidence in the CNV is at least 800 Ka old, and out of all Paleolithic technologies, Acheulean is most represented. In the absence of absolute dates, lithic technology has been provisionally used here as a criterion for defining the relative chrono-cultural affinities of the Paleolithic sites. Here, we present the assemblage from Pandado, a newly discovered Acheulean occurrence in the northern part of the valley. This site lies in close proximity to Pilikarar, known for its rich occurrence of Early Acheulean assemblages. Pandado is represented by two lithic localities, which has yielded 279 artifacts from surface and in situ stratified contexts. Typo-technological analysis and comparative data from other Indian Acheulean sites have been used. Based on the results, the data indicates that Pandado is closely associated with Early Acheulean technology.

Combined signatures of atmospheric drivers, soil moisture, and moisture source on floods in Narmada River basin, India

Combined signatures of atmospheric drivers, soil moisture, and moisture source on floods in Narmada River basin, India

Hydrologic similarity based on width function and hypsometry: An unsupervised learning approach

The prediction of hydrologic conditions in watersheds has manifold applications, ranging from flood disaster preparedness to water supply and environmental flow management. In watersheds with scarce or no flow data, it is difficult to make accurate hydrologic predictions. Past work has used similarity in single-valued properties of the terrain (for example, drainage area, mean slope) as the basis to relate flow conditions in gauged watersheds to the ungauged ones. The resulting predictions show modest accuracy and have a weak physical basis. In this study, we develop a physics-informed machine learning approach to extract features that represent the hydrologic dynamics — width function and hypsometric curve. These two geomorphometric measures are computed using functional forms fitted to estimates derived from digital elevation data. Furthermore, dynamically-similar groups are identified based on results from unsupervised clustering and divergence measures. Our approach paves the way towards a flexible and scalable machine learning approach that can be used to assess hydrologic similarity and improve prediction, one informed by physics of surface flow generation and transport in watersheds. A case study involving 72 sub-watersheds in the Narmada River Basin (India) is used to illustrate the new methodology.

Geochemical and isotope tracing of groundwater salinity in the coastal Gujarat alluvial plain, India

This study attempts to learn the groundwater salinization mechanism in the large and well-populated coastal Gujarat alluvial plain under growing anthropogenic pressures. For this purpose, geochemical compositions and 87Sr/86Sr were analyzed in 53 groundwater samples collected in the three different seasons during 2016–2017. Additionally, surface water samples collected in each season from two nearby large rivers (Narmada and Tapi) and urban sewage discharge of Surat city were also analyzed. Excluding a few salinity hotspots (EC >8–18 mS/cm), the seasonal average of EC (~2.3–2.5 mS/cm) in groundwater shows little fluctuations negating evaporation as the major salinization process. Localized anthropogenic inputs as traced using NO3 also fail to explain the widespread groundwater salinity. A strong marine influence on the groundwater salinity is revealed by an average Cl/Br of ~655 ± 104 mol/mol in groundwater (except a few outliers) falling close to the seawater composition. The lateral seawater intrusion at shallow depths is generally not supported by the freshening of coastal groundwater samples and generally seaward movements of shallow groundwater as indicated by regional piezometric heads. However, few (Ca)-Mg-Cl type groundwaters collected from north of the Narmada River fall in the piezometric depressions and hint at seawater intrusion and/or upconing of deep saline aquifers. The Sr isotope budget in most of the alluvial groundwater samples is controlled by the seepage groundwater–seawater mixing. Exceptional 87Sr/86Sr values owing to Sr inputs from different age terrains are found in the northeastern groundwater and a few groundwater samples collected downslope of ancient deposits in the central alluvium. The upconing of salty waters having marine signatures partly altered by aquifer–water interactions primarily governs the regional groundwater salinity, which makes the study area vulnerable to continued salinization by excessive groundwater extraction.

Water Demand and Supply Analysis using WEAP Model for Veda River Basin Madhya Pradesh (Nimar Region), India

Significant gaps exist in water management strategies implemented in the sub-basin of Narmada River, the Veda River Basin. Hence, the main goal of this study is to predict water demand and supply, recharge and draft with the use of the Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP) Model. The study area is watershed of the Veda River located in the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh, and Middle Narmada River sub-basin of India. In this study, the WEAP model is used as a decision support system for watershed management. The WEAP model uses water balance approach for the generation of results, based on that 4 types of scenarios have been developed are high population growth, high industrial growth, rainwater harvesting, and water storage structures for future trends. The unmet water demands were simulated in all administrative blocks, catchments, and industries which amounting to 9.58´108 m3 in 2011 and 9.65´108 m3 in 2030. Results suggested that the addition of water storage structures as well as artificial groundwater recharge structures reduce the unmet water demand for domestic consumption and meet irrigation water requirements.
 HIGHLIGHTS
 
 Watershed management using a Decision Support System
 GIS and WEAP (Water Evaluation and Planning System) model used in order to find demand and supply of water
 Scenarios generated based on demand and supply analysis
 Analysis of scenarios and future suggestions
 
 GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Flood Routing Assessment on Narmada Basin using Muskingum Method

Flood Routing is a process of measuring a flood hydrograph at any point in a channel by interpreting it to a known hydrograph at a predetermined point in the same channel. Flood forecasting, hydraulic structure design, and sediment transport estimation all facilitate it. The Muskingum flood routing studies on Narmada reach are performed in this paper. By linear muskingum method through trial and error technique the values of K and x are derived which is 10.53hrs and 0.265 respectively. After the determination of K and x values through muskingum formulation the value of C0, C1 and C2 is derived i.e. -0.277983243, 0.399347876 and 0.878635367 respectively. The above values lead to the calculation of routed outflow of year 2020, 2012, and 2013. Separate flood occurrences of the year 2020, 2012 and 2013 are routed through the Narmada from Hoshangabad to Handia. In the year 2012, 2013 the contributions of intermediary zones to the flow are taken into account by assuming tributaries between the measurement sites. According to flood route computations, the computed and observed hydrographs at Handia correspond nicely. The rainfall is simulated for the Narmada River Basin's Hoshangabad-Handia Watershed. According to the findings, the value of R2 can be considered reasonably adequate for calculating a watershed rainfall. The R2 value was 0.8675, indicating that the observed and simulated values were strongly correlated.

Flood frequency analysis and inundation mapping for lower Narmada basin, India

Abstract Floods are one of the world's most destructive natural disasters, taking more lives and causing more infrastructural damage than any other natural phenomenon. Floods have a significant economic, social, and environmental impact in developing countries like India. As a result, it is essential to address this natural disaster to mitigate its effects. The lower Narmada basin has experienced numerous floods, including severe flooding in 1970, 1973, 1984, 1990, 1994, and 2013. The objective of the present study is to use flood frequency analysis to anticipate peak floods and prepare flood inundation maps for the lower Narmada River reach. The flood frequency analysis was carried out using Gumbel's and Log-Pearson Type III Distribution methods. The hydrodynamic simulation was performed using HEC-RAS v6.0 to prepare flood inundation maps for predicted flood peaks. The result shows that the Log-Pearson Type-III distribution method gives good results for the lower return period while Gumbel's method gives good results for the higher return period. The hydrodynamic model results indicate that as the return period increases, the area of the high-risk zone increases while the area of the low-risk zone remains almost constant. The present study concludes that the existing embankment system on the banks of the Narmada River is not sufficient for significant floods. The developed maps will be helpful to government authorities and individual stakeholders to decide the flood mitigation measures.

Inclusion of groundwater and socio-economic factors for assessing comprehensive drought vulnerability over Narmada River Basin, India: A geospatial approach

Drought is amongst the most precarious natural hazards associated with severe repercussions. The characterization of droughts is usually carried out by the sector-specific (meteorological/agricultural/hydrological) indices that are mostly based on hydroclimatic variables. Groundwater is the major source of water supply during drought periods, and the socio-economic factors control the aftermaths of droughts; however, they are often ignored by the sector-specific indices, thereby failing to capture the overall impacts of droughts. This study aims to circumvent this issue by incorporating hydroclimatic, socio-economic and physiographic information to assess the overall drought vulnerability over Narmada River Basin, India, which is an agriculture-dominated basin highly dependent on groundwater resources. A Comprehensive Drought Vulnerability Indicator (CDVI) is proposed that assimilates the information on meteorological fluctuations, depth to groundwater level, slope, distance from river reach, population density, land use/land cover, soil type, and elevation through a geospatial approach. The CDVI showed a remarkable geospatial variation over the basin, with a majority (66.4%) of the area under highly to extremely vulnerable conditions. Out of 35 constituent districts of the basin, 9, 22, and 4 districts exhibited moderate, high, and extreme vulnerability to droughts, respectively. These results urge an immediate attention towards reducing drought vulnerability and enhancing resilience towards drought occurrences. The proposed multi-dimensional approach for drought vulnerability mapping would certainly help policy-makers to proactively plan and manage water resources over the basin, especially to ameliorate the pernicious impacts of droughts.

Mineralogy of Alluvial Soils Developed in Narmada River Basin in West Coast of Gujarat

Clay minerals have played a significant role for the plant nutrient management for crop production. Soils of recent and old alluvial plains deposited by Narmada river in Jhagadia block were investigated for their mineralogical makeup. The soils on recent alluvial plains (P1) (Fluventic Haplustepts) are very deep, moderately well drained, very dark grayish brown to very dark brown, silt loam to silt clay loam on level to nearly level slope with clay loam surface and slight erosion. The soils of old alluvial plain (P2) (Vertic Haplustepts) are similar to recent alluvial plain with clayey texture and moderate erosion. The pedons were sampled at one km (recent alluvial plain) and at two km (old alluvial plain) distance from Narmada river stream. The soils of recent alluvial plain are slightly alkaline (pH 7.5-8.5), slightly calcareous (<5% CaCO3) with moderate cation exchange capacity (CEC) and high in base saturation (>90%). The soils of old alluvial plain have high CEC and CaCO3 in sub-surface horizons. This paper presents a detailed study on clay minerals in surface and sub-surface sediments deposited by the Narmada river drainage basin. Clay content was ranged from 30-50% in recent alluvia and 50-60% in old alluvia. The soils of recent alluvia were high in silt fraction (40-47%) which plays an active role in potassium nutrition. The smectite content was significantly higher (weighted mean 64.9%) in old alluvial plain compared with recent plain (weighted mean 37.8%). A reverse pattern of mica distribution was observed in clay fraction of both the plains. The distribution of quartz and K/Na feldspars showed similar trends in sand fraction but wide variability was observed in the case of hydralsite, kenyaite, and boehmite content with depth. The mineralogical study indicated that the clay mineral assemblage of both sites varied in smectites and mica, which imparts heterogeneity to soil properties.

Colonial Struggle-Revolt of Adivasis against Corporate Policies and It’s Invisibility in Modern Global Fictions of Indian English Literature

The treatment to the adivasi community in Postcolonial Indian English fiction lacks in many grounds. Tribal historical revolts, encroachments of British rule into tribal territories, grabbing lands of the tribals, exploitation of tribal women, cruel landlords, deforestation and degradation of tribal environmental values do not find realistic representation in Indian English fictions. In Gita Mehta's The River Sutra, tribal are shown as the worshipper of Narmada River and performing some ritual on the bank of River Narmada, but tribal religious concerns are not so much the limited and full of superstitions. They consider land, forest and water as godly gift to them. In fact these natural objects are itself Godlike for them but when British power and landlords took the illegal entry in their territories, they protested against them and became the epitome of valor and martyrdom in the history. This research article tries to examine the bias attitude of mainstreams literature writing regarding the adivasi heritage and glorious tradition of revolt and sacrifice.