Evaluation of Meandering Characteristics of the Jhelum River Using Geo- Spatial Techniques
摘要
River Jhelum is the westernmost river of the five rivers of Punjab region. River Jhelum ends up meeting with Chenab River after flowing for nearly 725 kms. River Jhelum originates from Verinag spring, district Anantnag and flows through Kashmir valley to Punjab Province of Pakistan. River Jhelum after its origin flows through Srinagar and into Wular Lake. This stretch is primary zone of interest of the present work which is subjected to meandering. Due the changing nature of this river, it creates a lot of problems to the people who are residing nearby this river, so an attempt was made to find out meandering parameters of River Jhelum using Digital Elevation Models (DEM) of a study area and Geographical information software (GIS). Reach of River Jhelum which flows through Srinagar district possesses extremely complex meandering parameters. River bends between two points one in Reshipora, Awantipora (latitude 33°44′26.88’’N longitude 75° 8′0.25’’E) and other in Gund Prang, Near Wular Lake (latitude 34°20′20.68’’N longitude 74°38′0.14’’E) has been analyzed for meandering morphology possessed by the reach of river at present. Thirty nine (39) bends have been chosen over the reach with width varying as low as sixty six (66) meters to above one hundred and fifty (150) meters at some sections. Sinuosity of the river varies from 1.05 to 1.83 over different reaches of the river and ratio of RC/w (radius of curvature to width) varies from 1.05 to 8.83 over different reaches of the river. We believe that the outcome of this study will help in understanding the future meandering pattern of Jehlem River.