Integrated water security plan for water scarcity villages in central India

Abstract

The western Madhya Pradesh in India has been facing severe problem of drinking water scarcity during summer. The problem is compounded by local geological setup and moderate rainfall and excessive irrigation over draft. Taking cue from a holistic approach, a water security plan is prepared on watershed basis for water scarcity villages in Bamori block of Guna district in Madhya Pradesh which builds for sustainability of water source and utilization to cater the water needs at village level. The present investigations entail that GW withdrawal and recharge value signifying that withdrawal substantially exceeds the recharge, leading to the depletion of groundwater level. About 99.48 % groundwater is used for irrigation and rest for domestic uses. GW stage development (>100 %) indicates that the scope of GW development is already exhausted and comes under over-exploited/critical category. Physicochemical groundwater quality parameters are within the permissible limits. Thematic information was derived from satellite data which serve as a basis of generated composite thematic layer and useful for preparation of water security plan and GW augmentation. The study reveals that systematic scientific investigations help in development of GW resources which can cater the needs of population residing in the area. It requires development of institutional capabilities at the village level for preparing holistic plans for water security in water scarcity villages.