Jal Shakti, CSIR-NGRI signs deal for High-Resolution Aquifer Mapping & Management in Arid Region

New Delhi, December 22: Central Ground Water Board, Ministry of Jal Shakti signed Memorandum of Agreement, MoA CSIR-NGRI, Hyderabad for high-resolution aquifer mapping and management in Arid Region of North-Western India.

 

The MoA was signed by Chairman, CGWB and Director, CSIR-NGRI in presence of the Union Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and Union Minister of Science and Technology, Health and Family Welfare and Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan.

 

 

The MOA was signed for use of advanced heliborne geophysical survey and other scientific studies in parts of the States of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Haryana under the Aquifer Mapping Programme.

 

Under phase- I of the project, an area of nearly 1 lakh sq km spreading over nearly 65,500 sq km of western arid Rajasthan covering parts of Bikaner, Churu, Ganga Nagar, Jalor, Pali, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, and Sikar districts, 32 thousand sq. Km arid parts of Gujarat covering Rajkot, Jamnagar, Morbi, Surendranagar, and Devbhumi Dwarka districts and nearly 2500 sq km of Haryana covering Kurukshetra and Yamuna Nagar districts would be covered at an estimated cost of Rs 54 Crore.

 

The major objectives of the study include high-resolution aquifer mapping using heliborne geophysical studies, aquifer geometry of principal aquifer with the demarcation of de-saturated and saturated aquifers, aquifer system with relatively fresh and saline zones, and selecting suitable sites for groundwater withdrawal and water conservation through artificial or managed aquifer recharge.

 

This is the first time the Ministry of Jal Shakti has decided to use the State of the art technology for the identification of aquifers in such a large arid or semi-arid area of the country.

 

The study is likely to generate groundwater data in a very short period and will help CGWB in expeditiously finalising the groundwater management plan in the water-stressed areas. The findings of the study will help in formulating site-specific plans for improving groundwater levels in the water-stressed areas and charter the road map for sustainable management of groundwater resources, it added.