Evaluating meander shifting dynamics (1977–2017) of the Bhagirathi river course in Murshidabad District, West Bengal, India

Discernibility of Bhagirathi river course change detection was prepared via Remote Sensing and GIS in Murshidabad district among 41 years of period (1977–2017). Landsat MSS, TM, ETM+, TM, OLI sensor data from 1977, 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2017 respectively were considered to demarcate the chronological changes of the river course. Normalized Difference Water Index was used to extract the surface water bodies. Seventy-seven cross sections have been drawn to delimit the river course shifting pattern. The results shows that he Bhagirathi river course has been shifting towards south and west direction in different places, particularly in the lower and middle courses of the river. The adjacent riverine region has remained undeveloped due to infrastructure damaged by flood, changing course. Therefore, present study may be helpful for the overall management and planning for future prevention of flood, changing course, loss of properties. © 2017, Korean Spatial Information Society.