Intake Structure and Protection Works for Alluvial River in Eastern India - A Case Study

Major alluvial rivers in India originate in Himalayan range and flow towards sea while passing through plains. It is well known that these rivers carry variable sediment load. There would be either sediment deposition or erosion, depending on the discharge and corresponding sediment load. Such an imbalance can lead to changes in deep channel and/ or banks of alluvial rivers. River is one of the commonly source of water supply for domestic and industrial units. Location of intake structure under such a situation would lead to consideration of different aspects like availability of channel of adequate dimension for drawing water, proximity to site, stability of river channel and availability of nodal point(s). Further, there are factors like availability of land for locating pump house, switchyard and construction activity as well as passage for carrying pipeline. In addition, one has to look for available resources like financial, human and infrastructural items. The study is carried out by taking into account of these aspects in an integrated manner while arriving at the results for intake structure and protection works for alluvial river in Eastern India.