Geological, Geomorphological and Ground Water Quality in the area of Amaravathi, Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Abstract

The area of Amaravati, a new capital of the State of Andhra Pradesh, is located in the Guntur district, where the groundwater has been a potentialiresource to meet several needs due to frequentifailures of monsoon, and its quality has been deteriorated under the different environmental conditions. The Amaravati covers an area of about 217 km2 and is distributed in 28 villages in three mandals viz., Mangalagir, Thullur and Tadepalle. Agriculture is the main occupation of the people. The climate of the area is dry-humid, with average annual temperatures of 18o to 48oC. The average annual rainfall is about 1,357 mm. Field investigations were conducted in the month of December 2015. The data on rainfall, topographic conditions, soil cover, geomorphological features, geological, structural and hydrogeological conditions, drainage and land use practices was collected. Groundwater samples collected from the field were analyzed for major ion chemistry, viz. pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), total alkalinity (TA), total hardness (TH), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), potassium (K), bicarbonate (HCO3 ), chloride (Cl), sulphate (SO4), nitrate (NO3 ) and fluoride (F). Keeping the increase of water consumption with respect to the rapid growth population in the near future of the capital area, it is essential to assess the contaminates caused by poor quality of groundwater with respect to drinking purpose and industrial developments. In order to provide this base-line information for the purpose of the decision-making by policy-makers and water-managers.