Anthropocene Trails on Geomorphology of Meghalayan Chilika Basin Odisha

Abstract

The Chilika gulf in the pre-Meghalayan era has transformed into Greater Chilika, later a leaky lagoon and now downsizing. During early Anthropocene epoch (1950) became a restricted lagoon with the stable southern half of the barrier spit and fragile the northerly half. The sediment balance governed by the inland riverine flood flows from south Mahanadi delta (SMD), and through diurnal tides during other periods. The present anthropogenic development are the emerging Bhubaneswar capital (1948), rising population, and peripheral growth of urbans. Chilika, have deteriorated its eco-bio-hydro system and its associated delta. The anthropogenic interventions to flow by dams, barrages, new mouth dredging, Gobakund cut and natural sea-level changes, frequent storms, high waves, and longshore drift, have altered the geomorphology of the area. The present search envisages the physical changes that occurred in about 6000km2 of study area. The Remote Sensing and GIS technology and the ERDAS software tool were in use to concoct for the years 1984, 1994 and 2022, and compared the basic geophysical features geospatially (1975 to 2022). The erratic changes have developed over the lacustrine area, tidal inlets variability, increase in stable barrier spit and ecosystem with the land slamming of storms. Excess tourism activities, exploitation of fishery, motorized communications, poaching and increase of stakeholders have lost its forests, hills, solitude, and tranquility within.