Novel hybrid ravine vulnerability index‐based identification of potential reclamation zones for Western India

Abstract

The ravine is often regarded as the worst instance of how water erosion is causing land deterioration. The farmers' livelihoods are often threatened by the ravine's expansion into the surrounding 50 m buffer zone, leaving them with no choice except to work as landless workers. Due to the high expense of ravine restoration, it is not economically possible to begin the process of reclamation in all of the ravine lands at once. As a result, it is necessary to recognize the prospective regions to bring in reclamation activities. In this work, the ravine vulnerability index for the Mahi ravine in Western India was developed using a cutting‐edge hybrid methodology. For the development of the ravine vulnerability index, it was determined that the sand, silt, clay, organic carbon, soil erodibility factor, slope, stream power index, topographic wetness index, sediment transport index, and cover factor were crucial components. Weights were applied to various parameters based on the perceived significance of each parameter in relation to another in the decision matrix of the analytical hierarchical process. The number of iterations made to reach a consistency ratio of under 10% to determine the final priority weights for each parameter. The sediment transport index had the lowest priority weight (1.4), whereas the sand had the highest priority weight (28.5). For reclamation purposes, the prospective active zones inside the designated ravine's 50‐m buffer zone, which covered an area of 63,031 acres, were determined. According to the ground truth‐validated ravine vulnerability index, possible reclamation zones were found in the 16,703 ha (26.50%) region of Mahi ravine, which was given extremely high priority. As per the Mahi ravine's land capacity classification, 20,275 ha (32.16%) of it is arable land, and 18,687 ha (29.65%) of it is non‐arable land that is ideal for soil and water conservation treatments.