N
The extent of the watershed is determined by the basin boundary of the Yamuna river. MADHYA PRADESH
INTRODUCTION The intended study region i.e. Orchha, a historic city, nestled on the banks of river Betwa, is a tourist destination in Madhya Pradesh.
UTTAR PRADESH
ORCHHA CITY B A S I N DELINEATING
MADHYA PRADESH
Orchha City and Surrounding Districts
Administrative boundary and Connectivity
Hydrology
Gwalior is the nearest airport connected with Delhi, Bhopal, Indore amd Mumbai. Jhansi is the nearest railway station. All major mail and express trains stop at Jhansi. Regular bus services connect Orchha with Jhansi. Orchha is 14 km away from Jhansi, and 70 kms away from Tikkamgarh.
The River Betwa becomes the lifeline of the city of Orchha and the Surrounding villages and settlements. The topography allows the natural as well as man-made storages of water-bodies, which enables productive agriculture in the area. The extent of the basin of watershed, which creates the region of our study, reaches to Jansi in the North West, Babina cantonment in the South West, Bharua Sagar village, fort and settlement in the North East, Talbehat for and lake in the South East, to the reservoir in the South.
Climatic Context of the region Orchha has a pleasant climate as its location is in the Flat terrains. It is historic place, most tourist visit for October to April, which are the comfortable months. The warmest month of the year is May, with an average temperature of 34.6 °C. In January, the average temperature is 8 °C. The driest month is April, with 10 mm of rainfall. Most precipitation falls in August, with an average of 355 mm.
Orchha city and the surrounding area
River Basins in Madhya Pradesh
Hydrological Context
The R. Betwa is a tributary of the Yamuna. It originates in the Vindhya Range north of Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh. R. Betwa flows north-east through Madhya Pradesh and Orchha to Uttar Pradesh and joins the Yamuna river.
In the region, the elevation varies from 120m to 420 m, with an average elevation of 220 m. The land slopes from the South-west to the North-east corresponding to the flow of the rivers. The highest ridges are found along the eastern side of the delineated region. The highest elevation is seen near reservoir, while the lowest elevation is near Parichha Thermal power plant.
N Elevation Map
Slope is important because it influences hydrology, soil and its erosion and vegetation. Slope determines the kind of activity possible on the land and kind of measures required for conservation. The slope also determines the parts prone to erosion, as higher the slope more the surface run off. And, also slope helps in determining the areas where water bodies could be located so as to capture the run off the area - water-bodies could be located near the foot of the higher slope areas.
Slope Map
GEOLOGY OF THE REGION Foundation characteristics is very good. Therefore good for structures. Steep ridges to be avoided for construction work. Granite as native material, there is easy available of construction materials like aggregate, sand and chiseled stone. Major area has shallow soil cover and rocky outcrops with less permeability. Water gets collected near dykes and lineaments that don’t allow it to flow off, accounting to the granitic strata, hence they are potential good ground water recharge areas.
Geology Map
SOIL OF THE REGION SOIL DEPTH
Soil Map
SOIL TYPE
The soil depth and the soil types determine the vegetation typology and the soil permeability for water to percolate in and contribute to the ground water potential of the region. As in, the regions with more soil depth and sandy type will allow more water to percolate and the one with less soil depth and clayey type will allow for less water to percolate in. Further more, this is in accordance to the vegetation typology too, as the region with more soil depth will have less degraded vegetation, hence allowing for less run off and more of water percolation.
HYDROLOGY
Surface Hydrology
The surface run off differs accounting to the topography and the land use or cover of the region, hence contributing to understanding the areas which need to be conserved. Further, the water quality of the Surface run off tapped in Watershed-A and B, will determine the quality of water reaching or flowing through the sanctuary and Orchha town, with reference to the land use of the Capacity of Dams/ Weirs subsequent Watersheds. Moreover, • Matatilla Dam- 1132.7 MCM the regions near the stream tend to • Sukhwan - Dukhwan Dam- 57.8 MCM have higher potential to capture • Parichha Dam - 78.8 MCM the run off and contribute to the ground water potential. The River Edge The drainage of the river shows a dendritic pattern. The course of the river within the region has many islands and therefore the river is braided. These islands show diverse vegetation types and densities such as tall grasses, open to dense scrubs, dense teak forests etc. Though the region is rich in its water resources, lack of surface water is a major problem during the peak Summer months.
River edge Sections
FOREST DEGRADATION The drawing suggest the stages of degradation of the forest from Dry Deciduous to thorny forest. Further, as the extent of degradation of the vegetation of a region increases, the surface run off of the region also increases. Besides this, it can also be observed that the regions with less soil depth have more degraded soil, as the vegetation is unable to hold the soil, hence these area will have low ground water potential as the water will be flown off as surface run off to the rivers or streams. Forest Degradation
T h e settlement and Viewsheds
Settlement Map
Viewshed Map
The primary occupation of the villages is agriculture. And, most of the water used in agriculture is drawn by tube-well, rendering a decline in water table.
Soil Erosion Susceptibility The water shed area is characterized by different land forms - ridge, river basin, rocky outcrop at different elevations and were subjected to soil erosion mainly caused by surface run off.
Erosion Suceptibility Map
Further, the region with high erosion are the places where measures for soil stabilization could be implemented. This measure, would ensure the erosion also it will facilitate the water to percolate in, which not only add to the potential ground water recharge but also the degradation of the vegetation. Ground Water Potential River beds and streams are good recharge potentials. Further, due to hard rock strata, the fractures in the weathered rocks and drainage lineaments are the points which become potential good recharge points. The region aquifer is confined, with first fracture found at 12-18 m, second at 24-36 and the thirds at 39-42 m, suggestive of the irregular shape of the aquifer.
Erosion Suceptibility Map