A Geospatial Approach for the Assessment of Erosion and Accretion caused by Krishna River in the Bapatla and Krishna Districts of Andhra Pradesh State, India

Abstract

Rivers are the dynamic bodies of water, so they change form and size over time in many different ways. The phenomena of riverbank erosion and accretion have a significant impact on the communities that are located in the neighbouring area and they also increase the likelihood of making the agriculturally productive land vulnerable to become barren and unusable. The current study is focused on the analysis of erosion and accretion caused by Krishna River, flowing through the two coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, Bapatla and Krishna. The satellite imagery acquired from USGS website (https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov) was utilised throughout the course of the research to cover a range of time intervals from 1990 to 2020. For the time period from 1990 to 2000, the erosion and accretion were 2249 ha and 1397 ha respectively. Between the years 2000 and 2010, there was a total of 688 ha of erosion and 1888 ha of accretion. During the period from 2010 to 2020, the area lost to erosion was a total of 2341 ha, while 1743 ha was gained. The findings make it abundantly clear that there has been a significant alteration in the flow pattern of the Krishna River which has led to the loss of a large portion of agricultural land as a result of erosion as well as the congestion of river as a result of accretion. The findings of the research will alert local authorities to develop efficient action plans and strategies to combat erosion and accretion in both the regions.