Groundwater Vulnerability Mapping of Nagpur City

Abstract

newline i newlineABSTRACT newlineGroundwater is fairly ubiquitous resource. Increased exploitation, environmental newlinedegradation and usages of chemicals have threatened the surface and ground water quality newlineand presently the aforesaid are the major issues faced by water resources engineers over the newlineworld. Groundwater is not a fragile natural resource as it is protected by layers of material newlineabove it, but it is vulnerable to over-exploitation, chemical contamination and is constrained newlineby climatic variability. The quality of groundwater is a major concern due to its adverse newlineimpact on human health and surrounding environment, and its invisibility in nature which newlinemakes its remediation difficult or sometime impossible. Groundwater protection is an newlineessential requirement for securing the precious natural resource. newlineAssessment of groundwater vulnerability can act as a significant tool for making effective newlinepolicies for planning, management and taking necessary remedial action for protecting the newlinegroundwater from further contamination. If it is done meticulously it would ultimately lead newlineto a cleaner and healthier environment. Groundwater vulnerability is basically the sensitivity newlineof groundwater quality to highly heterogeneous hydro-geological settings and effects of newlineanthropogenic activities. The characteristics of groundwater get abundantly distorted in the newlineurban areas, by industrial activities, improper disposal of effluent, underground storage of newlineharmful chemicals and sewage systems. Keeping this aspect as a major concern, attempt has newlinebeen made to carry out groundwater vulnerability assessment in centrally located urbanized newlinecity Nagpur Urban . newlineNagpur city is selected as a study area, on basis of annual groundwater reports from newlineGovernment organization (Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), Groundwater Survey and newlineDevelopment Agency (GSDA) Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and Central newlinePollution Control Board (CPCB)) and previous researches executed in the study area, which newlineconcludes that the higher concentrati