Groundwater Practices and Vulnerability at a Pocket of the Northwest Region of Bangladesh: A Study Based on Social and Hydrogeological Factors

Abstract

The combined effects of climate change and anthropogenic factors are causing the depletion of the groundwater level in the Northwest region of Bangladesh, leading to the rise of socio-economic stress among the rural marginalised communities. This research aims to assess the current water practices by identifying the changes in water supply sources and associated socio-economic stress to rural marginalised communities. Both social and hydrogeological factors have been taken into consideration for vulnerability assessment. The social factors are (a) percentage of indigenous households, (b) percentage of poor households, (c) percentage using unhygienic water sources and (d) percentage of households having water scarcity. On the other hand, the hydrogeological factors are (a) depth of topsoil, (b) elevation, (c) stream density, (d) slope of the elevation, (e) land use and (f) soil. The geospatial-based weighted linear combination technique combines all the social and hydrogeological factors. The resultant areas are characterised by five categories: very low to very high vulnerability. According to social and hydrogeological factors, Sapahar, Tilna, Dibar, Sihara and Nirmail unions are in the most vulnerable zone.