Shallow Aquifers

Featured Articles
July 11, 2022 The Chauka system of Rajasthan can not only provide a sustainable way to manage water resources in water stressed regions, but also support livelihoods through development of pastures.
Can greening of barren lands happen? (Image Source: India Water Portal Flickr photos)
July 29, 2021 Experiences from participatory groundwater management efforts in Maharashtra
Unless work on managing the demand is undertaken, the notion of ‘infinite’ groundwater will be hard to address. (Image: Rucha Deshmukh, ACWADAM)
December 4, 2019 The 2015­-2018 drought, the longest, but less severe of droughts experienced by India raises alarm on the negative effects of future droughts on water security in the country.
India will see more droughts in the future. (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
October 25, 2019 Groundwater use has doubled in Pune. Comprehensive mapping of groundwater resources and better management and governance is the need of the hour.
Groundwater, an exploited resource (Image Source: India Water Portal)
October 1, 2019 Deconstructing the traditional narrow engineering based policy discourses around floods and droughts and connecting them to social and cultural realities is the need of the hour in India.
Water talk Series at Mumbai (Image Source:Tata Insitute of Social Sciences)
September 30, 2019 The recently concluded 4 day conference in Bangalore looked at the current state of global water resource challenges & future pathways to achieve the SDGs, while ensuring equity in access to all.
Charles Vorosmarty, Chair, COMPASS Initiative, Water Future at the opening plenary on advanced water system assessments to address water security challenges of the 21st century.
Drought-free in Maharashtra – six small villages, one big lesson
Awareness and community-level action are key to the success of any initiative; these six villages in Maharashtra are testimony to that. Posted on 10 Jun, 2013 02:09 PM

Maharashtra is reeling under a drought – one of the worst in the last 40 years. The state declared drought in 125 out of 358 talukas during kharif 2012-13, and then declared water scarcity in 3,905 villages in rabi 2012-13.

Satchiwadi village used less groundwater this year
Certificate programme on village GIS software, IIT Madras & WASSAN, Chittoor (AP), July 22-26, 2013
A hands-on field-based workshop on the free, high quality & user-friendly ‘Quantum GIS’, for use by grass root level village workers in developmental activities.
Posted on 02 Jun, 2013 04:51 PM

IIT Madrras

Delhi’s ground water hits rock bottom
Too many people, too much pollution and too little water – that's Delhi’s water supply situation in a nutshell. Posted on 20 May, 2013 12:40 PM

Green pastures and meadows, tall trees, lakes, wells and the river…those are my memories of Delhi. It wasn’t too long ago that one woke up early to the sounds of lawns being watered, children running off to school and people walking in the parks. A flurry of activity but quite different from what it is today.

A baoli (step well) in ruins
A village creates magic…and a river!
Sukha Raula (dry ravine) to Gad Ganga – the transformation in Ufrenkhal Posted on 30 Apr, 2013 09:23 AM

Ufrenkhal – the village
Driving towards Ufrenkhal, a village in Pauri Garhwal (Uttarakhand), I see a lush, green mountain covered with deodar, banj and utees trees. Little did I realize that this diverse and dense forest, which is alive with wildlife, is very new. 40 years ago, this vast area was a firing range!

Ufrenkhal in Uttarakhand
The story of how blissful ignorance allows Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages to deprive Mehdiganj, Varanasi of its water
What does 'being water positive' really mean for the villages where manufacturing plants are situated ? Posted on 01 Apr, 2013 11:39 PM

 

Bottled drinks are commonplace and we often reach for them without a thought. We may even feel good about our purchase as we read about the companies' commitment to water security' printed on the label. 

 

What does 'being water positive' really mean for the villages where manufacturing plants are situated ? This article examines the case of one such plant in Mehdiganj, PO Benipur, Arajiline block, Dist Varanasi and its effect on the groundwater levels in the area. The village has led an agitation against 4 specific negative impacts of the plant, acheiving moderate but measurable success.

This year, the movement comes to a crisis point as despite a warning by the Central Groundwater Development Board, the plant applies for a four-fold expansion.  

The story of Dhanushkodi, a cyclone hit town, where reality coexists with myths, mysteries and miracles
This article describes a visit to Dhanushkodi and the method by which the island-dwellers source sweet drinking water Posted on 16 Mar, 2013 08:55 AM

A visit to Dhanushkodi makes one wonder as to how such  peace and tranquility can at times, also unleash such fury and destruction, but then life goes on, as does for the small section of the fisherfolk who continue to inhabit the island and depend on it for their basic needs of food and drinking water, which the island continues to provide for them

Anthropogenic activities leads to deterioration of groundwater quality: A study of Mayyanad and Edamulakkal panchayats of Kollam district in Kerala
Kerala is a rain blessed state in the country, but due to its slanting topography there is significant decline in the ground water levels leading to severe water scarcity. This paper sheds light on groundwater quality issues in two panchayats of Kerala Posted on 22 Feb, 2013 10:07 AM

Kerala is a rain blessed state in the country. It has highest  number of wells, when compared with other states. However due to its slanting topography there is significant decline in the ground water levels leading to severe water scarcity during summer months in most districts of the state. Further over extraction and dependence of groundwater for domestic use from the dug wells especially in rural pockets has resulted in several groundwater problems. In this backdrop the paper in  The Ecosan- An International Quarterly Journal of Environmental Science, sheds light on groundwater quality issues in two panchayats of Kerala.

Some strategies for managing groundwater by Aditi Mukherji, IWMI
Groundwater is essential for India's agricutural economy. In her blog 'Waterscapes', Aditi Mukherji discusses the need for regional strategies to manage groundwater economy. Posted on 22 Feb, 2013 09:53 AM

Groundwater is essential for India's agricutural economy. However, there is a large variation in the groundwater resources of each region. Some regions are already over-exploited, while others can still tolerate more withdrawal. In her blog 'Waterscapes', Aditi Mukherji discusses the need for regional strategies to manage groundwater economy.

Dealing with arsenic in rural Bihar - Evaluating the successes and failures of mitigation projects
Arsenic is a toxin that is commonly found in the ground water of shallow aquifers in the Ganges River Delta.This research focuses on the social and economic factors that influence the successes and failures of different arsenic mitigation projects and will provide a strategy on how to handle the arsenic issue in the upcoming years. Posted on 21 Feb, 2013 11:51 PM

Article Courtesy: Delft University of Technology

Author(s): Matthijs Brouns, Merijn Janssen, Andrew Wong

Assessing the land use change and its impact on water resources: A study on the Mula and Mutha rivers catchment area in Pune
Analysing the changes in land uses between 1989 and 2009, this paper assesses the impact on water balance in Mula and Mutha Rivers catchment upstream of the city of Pune Posted on 17 Feb, 2013 09:11 PM

Land use changes  hydrologic system and have potentially large impacts on water resources. An assessment in an area with seasonally limited water availability and which is subject to rapid socio- economic development and population growth will provide an exemplary view on the local impacts of major recent developments in India. In this backdrop this paper analyzes past land use changes between 1989 and 2009 and their impacts on the water balance in the Mula and Mutha Rivers catchment upstream of Pune. The aim of the paper is:

  • assess the land use changes between 1989/1990 and 2009/2010
  • analyze the impacts of these changes on the long-term water balance components in the Mula and Mutha Rivers catchment upstream of the city of Pune.