The failure of Kosi River (Bihar, India) embankments and its effect on land use and land cover: a Remote sensing and GIS based approach

The kosi is an important river system in the north Bihar of India. The kosi is important in terms of its Geological settings, Basin characteristics, Flow characteristics, and its dynamic characteristics. The large upper catchment area, the high number of first and second order stream, large Himalayan glaciers makes the river high flood prone. Kosi originates from upper Himalayas and flows through the shiwaliks, Nepal foothills where river makes large alluvial fan, and finally it joins ganga in plain where large bending are seen. In august, 2008, kosi experience its embankment’s change and devastating flood. The main idea of the paper is to analyzed the morphometric, geological, and anthropogenic causes of such river embankment’s failure with the use of Dem and satellite imagery, how this changes have effect local landuse and land cover characteristics. Key words: River system, Geological settings, Basin characteristics, Alluvial fan, Embankment, Morphometric characteristics