Abstract

The Geographical Information System (GIS) has become a useful tool for planning and managing watersheds by defining drainage patterns. The Tapi (WS1), Kanhan (WS2), Pench (WS3), and Tawa (WS4) river basins, which are situated in the Betul - Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh are the subject of study here. Strahler (1964) stream order method and GIS techniques have both been employed for the morphometric study. The drainage densities for the WS1, WS2, WS3, WS4 are 0.826, 0.774, 0.831, and 0.803 respectively. There are a total of 1847 streams in WS1, 2768 in WS2, 2381 in WS3, and 1829 in WS4. Thus, the lengths of all the streams over the entire study region have been determined to be WS1: 2322.35722 km, WS2: 3543.17686 km, WS3: 2905.11956 km, and WS4: 2361.78943 km in, with the Kanhan and Pench rivers indicating a dense drainage network. It has been found that the research area, is well drained and has a well-integrated drainage system.

Key words: Watershed, Morphometry, Stream order, Drainage Pattern, Drainage Density