Studies on Prospect of Ground Water Using Rs and Gis Techniques in Ramchandrapur of Santuri Block, Purulia District, West Bengal

Abstract

Groundwater is an important element of global hydrologic cycle. It is vital for fulfillment of the basic human needs as drinking water and using in other purposes. In the present work, the main goal is to prepare the groundwater prospect map of the study area, using Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic information System (GIS) techniques. A small area around Ramchandrapur in Purulia District, West Bengal is chosen for this work. This area is mainly the eastern most extension of the chotanagpur plateau and a transitional area between the plateau in the west and the alluvial plains of Bankura region in the east. The lithology of this area is mainly metamorphosed igneous rocks, except in the northern part where Gondwana sediments are exposed. Major rock groups present in this area are granite gneiss, khondalite, nephelinesyenite, sandstone and shale. Topography is undulating and some places nearly flat with some scattered hillocks which are mainly denudational in origin. History of prolonged weathering and erosion are clearly present in the geomorphological units. Mainly loose sandy residual soil is present in most of the places. Unconsolidated sediments are present in valley fills along drainage systems. Well-connected drainage pattern (dendritic) is present here. In this study, satellite image is used. From this image and also with the help of SOI toposheet different thematic layers are created viz. base map, geomorphology, lithology, drainage and land use in ArcGIS 9.3 software. For the preparation of groundwater prospect map lithgeom layer is created by integrating lithology and geomorphology layer in ArcGIS 9.3. Well yield data helps to construct this layer. Five types of potentialzones are found from the prospect map these are good, moderate good, moderate, poor, very poor.