Assessment of Impact of Urbanization on Groundwater Resources using GIS Techniques- Case Study of Hyderabad, India

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

2 Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, India

3 Indo-French Centre for Groundwater Research, CSIR- National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, India

Abstract

Hyderabad is one of the fastest growing Indian megacities which have significant impact on its
environment. The surface and groundwater resources are severely affected by uncontrolled expansion and
densification of the city. For the better understanding, recovery and to prevent future deterioration of these
significance resources, it is necessary to have knowledge of the impact of urban growth in various ways on
environment. Historical groundwater level and quality data obtained from different sources as well as by field
study data is used for this analysis. In some cases missing data points were interpolated and verified by
providing certain criteria. The map of rate of groundwater level change per year showed the locations of
recharge activity by sewage and other effluents as well as overexploitations by industrial and some upper
middle class residential areas. The results obtained from groundwater quality analysis are then compared with
the BIS (Bureau of India) as well as WHO (World Health Organization) standards for drinking water. It had
been observed that many water samples had heavy metal elements and bacterial formation above permissible
limits and it is not suitable for drinking purpose. The water samples obtained from locations which do not
qualify for drinking water use according to WHO as well as BIS standards are identified. These results are then
overlapped with map of rate of groundwater level change to establish the relation between urban groundwater
recharge and its effect on groundwater quality.

Keywords

International Journal of Environmental Research
Volume 8, Issue 4 - Serial Number 4
October 2014
Pages 1145-1158

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