A Study on Bank Erosion by the River Baralia (Bhairatolajan) in Melkipara Village of Hajo Revenue Circle, Kamrupdistrict, Assam, India

Among the various hazards created by nature on the earth’s surface, the one caused by flood and river bank erosion is more common and quite devastating. Like, earthquake and volcanic eruptions, it also affects human activities in various ways wherever it occurs. Erosion, transportation and deposition are the main functions of a river. Through these activities, it creates different landforms and brings about changes in its course. When it overflows its banks, it creates natural calamities, like flood, erosion and sedimentation, which adversely affect human occupancies of the floodplain. The economic activities carried out in floodplains largely dependent on the nature and frequency of these hazards. In some parts of the floodplain tract bank erosion may create serious problem for the people living there destroying their homes and hearths and damage their crops. The degree of damage depends upon the degree of its magnitude, intensity and duration.The study areas provides a typical example of this dynamicity and devastation where large tracts of fertile agricultural land and densely settled villages have been eroded away, thousands of people are rendered homeless and forced to migrate to other areas – both in the immediate neighbourhood and quite a far.