RAINWATER HARVESTING AND ARTIFICIAL RECHARGE OF GROUNDWATER IN WATERSHEDS OF CHHATTISGARH STATE, INDIA – A CASE STUDY

Groundwater is a precious resource with limited extent. Indiscriminate use results in fast decline of the resource. Integration of remotely sensed data and field survey data on a GIS platform provides convergent analysis of diverse data sets for decision making in groundwater management. Speck SpatialTech Limited (SST) adopted a multi-disciplinary approach for developing a comprehensive tool for planning watershed development through artificial recharge of ground water and rainwater harvesting in 2500 sq km area spanning across 3 districts in Chhattisgarh state, India. In total thirty two (32) watersheds of various sizes (ranging from 16 sq km to 248 sq km) falling in Mahanadi basin were delineated. The study involved detailed surveys on natural resources, understanding hydrology of aquifers, evaluation of quality and quantity of ground water, analysis of socio-economic fabric, water demand assessment and its impact on ground water reserves. An integrated analysis on a GIS platform was carried out to identify sites suitable for artificial recharge and rainwater harvesting. Water resource development plan was generated for each identified site, describing type of recharge structure, detailed engineering design, cost benefit analysis and monitoring guidelines. Details of survey, analysis and results were presented in the form of Watershed-wise Detailed Project Reports (DPRs). Rampur watershed (code 4G2C1r1) is discussed under the present case study to explain the methodology and results