Bank Erosion of the Gumti River between Barmura-Atharamura Hill Ranges and Its Impact on Socio-Economic Condition of the Local People

Gumti River is the largest river of Tripura which flows for 47 km (35% of the total length) in a meandering course through the synclinal valley between Baramura and Atharamura hill ranges. Overlay of temporal dataset (using GIS technique) and field verification show that three sites, namely Miabari, Amarpur Market and Birgang are vulnerable to Gumti River bank erosion. About 147 m2 area has already undergone into the river and people have lost their valuable properties. Thus this study aims to identify the factors responsible for bank erosion hazard and also to analyse its impact upon the socio- economic condition of the local people. The work has been done on the basis of intensive field survey. From this field survey it is found that soil composition of the river bank, bank angle and height, root depth and density etc. are responsible for bank erosion. Deforestation in the catchment area is also responsible for sedimentation as well as bank erosion. Due to continuous bank erosion the River Gumti has shifted and people have lost their houses, agricultural land etc and their occupational structure and economic condition have changed thereby. Most of the people have changed their profession from agricultural labourer to daily labourers. So it is highly significant to study the cropped land pattern, amount of loss, occupational structure of the local people and also the hydrological behaviour of the River Gumti to get an idea about its bank erosion hazard.