32-A Study on Groundwater Conditions in Mewat (NUH) District Haryana (India).

Abstract

Mewat district lies in arid and semi-arid climatic conditions and is one of the water starved places, in Haryana state of India where groundwater is the major source for fulfilling the water needs of domestic and agricultural sectors and its continuous use has put an enormous pressure on the groundwater resource, which along with low rainfall and variable geographical conditions lead to the declining water levels. The other problem of this area is high salinity which is reported intruding to the freshwater zone. Taking into account the twin problem of declining water level and high salinity the study was taken up jointly by National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee; Sehgal Foundation, Gurgaon and Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee. Groundwater in Mewat has high salinity accompanied by high fluoride contents and declining water level. This also contributes to the problem of non potable drinking water except the base of the ridges and hillocks area of the district. Keeping in view these points, N a survey was conducted as a socio-analytical tool using people's perspective approach to assess the water related issues of the district during the months of March to May, 2016 in 37 villages covering all the 5 blocks, namely Firozpur Jhirka, Nuh, Nagina, Taoru, Punahana of Mewat District. (ii) Groundwater level and TDS (Total dissolved solids) data for pre- monsoon and post-monsoon seasons for the time period of 2011-2015 of 40 monitoring wells developed by Sehgal Foundation, Gurgaon was collected and analysed. (iii) 13 random samples were collected represented all the blocks and analysed for water chemistry (pH, EC, ions, isotopes). It has been found that Mewat has limited water resources and most of the available resources are not in useable condition due to high salinity. Also, the groundwater level is decreasing in the area while TDS values show inconsistent trends during 2011-15. There is a need of strengthening soil, water and groundwater institutions along with capacity building, training and education for soil and water management, quality monitoring, and aquifer remediation on a continuous basis. Further monitoring of the wells is continued to get the more information on water level and TDS which will help in facilitating the researchers in finding out the applicable solutions for the above problems in the Mewat, Haryana.