Identification of suitable sites for construction of soil and water conservation structures in Salebhata catchment of Mahanadi river basin using geo-spatial technique Paul J.C.1,*, Mohapatra Priyanka2, Das Dwarika Mohan3, Nandy Pranab Kumar4, Behera Shaswati5, Sulagna Sushree5 1Professor and Head (Agricultural Engineering), Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Jagatsinghpur 2Ph.D. Student (Agricultural Engineering), Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Jagatsinghpur 3Scientist (Agricultural Engineering), Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Jagatsinghpur 4Research Assistant, Department of Soil and Water Conservation Engineering, College of Agricultural Engineering & Technology, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar-751003, Odisha 5Ex-B. Tech Student, Department of Soil and Water Conservation Engineering, College of Agricultural Engineering & Technology, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar-751003, Odisha *Corresponding author Email id: jcpaul.swce@ouat.ac.in
Online published on 2 March, 2024. Abstract The present study was carried out to create a land suitability map and location of suitable sites for different types of soil and water conservation structures of the Salebhata watershed which lies in the middle reach of the Mahanadi River basin in Odisha, India. The classification of excellent, good, moderate and poor area for establishment of soil and water conservation structures in the basin was determined using AHP based weighted overlay method. The normalised weight for soil, land use/ land cover and slope were found to be 0.35, 0.45, and 0.2, respectively for establishment of soil and water conservation measures. The location of soil and water conservation measures like 52 water harvesting structures, 30 nala bunds, 24 percolation tanks, 27 bund, 18 trenches, 49 check dams, 40 farm ponds and 4 surface dykes were suggested based on weighted overlay technique in GIS. This study suggests a holistic and sustainable watershed development plan for Salebhata catchment which will help to arrest the soil and conserve sufficient water in the catchment. Top Keywords Weighted index, GIS, Site suitability analysis, Soil and water conservation structures, Soil erosion. Top |