Assessment of groundwater recharge potential zones in Deccan basaltic province India a step towards sustainable development

Abstract

Groundwater shortage coupled with drought, infrequent monsoon and other anthropogenic causes has cropped up as a most common geo-environmental disaster in India. It is already a great concern for the wellbeing of Indian population at large. Almost 25% of the Indian population is affected by water crisis in dry season. In hard rock terrains of Peninsular India, the groundwater scarcity has become a dominant geo-environmental and socioeconomic problem. Due to the easy accessibility/extraction and low cost commodity groundwater is the most dependable water source. These phenomena intensified the usage of groundwater to a greater extent invariably leading to groundwater at the brink of extinction in near future. The ever-increasing abstraction of groundwater resources is being practised regularly even today, without proper assessment of groundwater recharge capabilities of aquifers. All these have led to immense imbalances in groundwater resources, therefore affecting the livelihood of the population and geo-environmental condition. Groundwater recharge (GWR) is vital for creating a balance in water resources and to overcome the relentless threat of groundwater over-exploitation. To circumvent this everincreasing threat in severe water scarce parts of drought prone Manjeera basin in Deccan basaltic province, India, this present research was aimed to delineate groundwater recharge potential zones (GWRPZ) using multi criteria decision analysis (MCDA), analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and multi influencing factor (MIF). Present research was conducted with an aim to develop efficient/effective perspective of groundwater replenishment for this study area in Deccan basaltic province, by delineating GWRPZ for creating artificial recharge measures towards long term groundwater sustainability. Crucial hydrogeological thematic variables namely geomorphology, lineament density, lithology, landuse, slope, soil texture, drainage density and rainfall were selected to achieve a targeted objective of an efficient GWRPZ map