integrated coastal zone management project west ... - Iczmpwb.org

9almost the whole of North Dinajpur are often referred physiographically as Mahananda plain.The spectacular Barind upland (Balurghat and Gaur plains) that covers eastern part of Maldaand South Dinajpur districts forms valley wall to the Mahananda plain.7. A number of physiographic zones are easily discernable in the southern West Bengalwest of the Bhagirathi-Hugli River. In the southwestern corner of the Purulia district,dissected outliers of the Ranchi plateau known as the Ayodhya plateau having an altitude ofover 450m stand as blocks of highland. Further south of the Ayodhya plateau runs the Dalmahills separated from it by the alluvial deposits of Kumari River. The rest of the Puruliadistrict and a small part of the adjoining Bankura, Birbhum and West Medinipur districts canbe described as high plain (Purulia upland) sloping eastward. The Rarh upland with ferraliticsoil cover is present to the east of Purulia upland. The Upland is undulating in charactersubjected to severe soil erosion. To the east an extensive fluvial plain known from north tosouth as Kandi plain, Mayurakshi plain, lower Damodar plain, west Bhagirathi plain andMedinipur plain make up the landscape of this low lying area. South of the Damodar Riverand also within the Medinipur Plain water-logged marshy areas (now partially reclaimed),like the Dankuni, Ghatal and Dubda basins are characteristic back swamp areas of thelandscape. The landscape east of the Bhagirathi river up to the Bangladesh border (thewestern part of the upper delta plain of the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta) is made up ofoverlapping and cross cutting meander belts of which the oldest is the proto-Padma meanderbelt running from north to south up to the northern limit of the lower delta plain.8. The Kanthi coastal plain lying between the estuary of the Subarnarekha River andHugli River is a northeast-southwest trending coastal zone characterized by rows of beachridges and intervening low-lying swales (mudflats). The sea front is in dynamic equilibriumwith some stretches experiencing erosion while the other part is accreting although net losshas been indicated. The coast is a meso-tidal wave dominated coast. The wave environmentof the Kanthi coast is dominated by wind driven waves coming from SE or SSE. Waveheight in the open sea is below 1 m which increases substantially as the waves move oversloping near shore sea bottom (the bathymetric contours are mostly shore parallel) at a smallangle to the coast line. The predominant direction of littoral drift is from west to eastalthough a mild littoral drift from east to west during winter months has been recorded. The9