| Popis: |
Sustainable groundwater balance is dropping off day by day throughout the world. Owing to random withdrawal of groundwater to meet the demand of tremendous population pressure, extensive irrigation and inefficient use of surface water in the different territories of the world, groundwater storage becomes prone to depletion. Cooch Behar district in the northern part of West Bengal is dominated by loamy types of soil which are very conducive for groundwater recharge, but overexploitation of groundwater in this district has created stress on groundwater reserve. In this study, a newly developed PCPL method is used for predicting groundwater vulnerability. It is a GIS-based method used for mapping projected groundwater vulnerability giving priority on the basis of AHP technique considering three interlinked and interdependent variables such as (i) groundwater potentiality, (ii) groundwater consumption and (iii) long-term groundwater fluctuation. It is evident from the result that areas under the category of very low, low and moderate groundwater vulnerably are decreasing, whereas areas under high and very high category of groundwater vulnerability are increasing in all three projected cases of 2028, 2034 and 2040. The projected areas under very low, low, moderate, high and very high groundwater vulnerability zone in 2040 are 8%, 16%, 23%, 23% and 30%, respectively. This stress on groundwater can definitely be reduced through wide use of surface water, reuse and recycling of water, extensive rainwater harvesting, modernized irrigation system and nature-friendly afforestation with community involvement. |
