Late Holocene rapid terrestrialization of abandoned channels and vulnerability in the Himalayan Foreland basin area in India

Alam, J.; Mandal, D.K.; Barman, S.; Singha, P.; Alam, J; Mandal, D.K; Barman, S; Singha, P

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2025.145821

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Late Holocene rapid terrestrialization of abandoned channels and vulnerability in the Himalayan Foreland basin area in India

Alam, J.; Mandal, D.K.; Barman, S.; Singha, P.

Journal of Cleaner Production 518: 145821

2025

ISSN/ISBN: 0959-6526

DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2025.145821
Accession: 095310531

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Summary

The terrestrialization of abandoned channels and their current vulnerable condition in the floodplain settings has become a global concern, particularly in developing countries like India. This study focuses on the rapid terrestrialization caused by hydro-morphological changes and human interventions, along with assessing the vulnerability of abandoned channels (VAC) in the Raidak River basin, in the Himalayan Foreland in India. Advanced multi-model machine learning algorithms have been employed to assess the vulnerability of abandoned channels using 15 controlling variables derived from both field observations and satellite data. The analysis revealed a significant transformation of abandoned channels between 1992 and 2024, with approximately 104.05 km2 converted into agricultural land and 85.90 km2 into built-up areas, highlighting extensive human encroachment and land-use change in these vulnerable zones. Furthermore, over a wider part of the study area (97.74 %) reported water availability between 3 and 4 months. Validation results indicated that the Random Forest (RF) achieved the highest accuracy in evaluating VAC, with an AUC of ROC of 0.93, followed by Bagging, Random Subspace, and Support Vector Machine models. The VAC analysis revealed that 25.98 % of the area is under a very highly vulnerable condition, followed by 23.20 % at high, 28.43 % at moderate, 14.75 % at low, and 7.63 % at very low vulnerable conditions. The study highlighted that abandoned channels undergo faster terrestrialization when water levels decline or channel degradation intensifies, leading to their gradual disappearance from the landscape. This study successfully highlighted that the study region is under significant threat from the vulnerability of abandoned channels and urgently requires the development of appropriate mitigation strategies and management policies. The findings may help policymakers and local stakeholders to protect and restore the floodplain abandoned channels and reduce the vulnerability to maintain the ecological and hydrological balance.

Late Holocene rapid terrestrialization of abandoned channels and vulnerability in the Himalayan Foreland basin area in India

Alam, J.; Mandal, D.K.; Barman, S.; Singha, P.

Journal of Cleaner Production 518: 145821

2025

Article/Abstract emailed within 0-6 h

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