Groundwater Vulnerability Assessment using DRASTIC Method in Jabalpur District of Madhya Pradesh
Neha Gupta

Ms. Neha Gupta, M.Sc. Department of Water Resources Management, TERI University, New Delhi, India.
Manuscript received on 20 July 2014 | Revised Manuscript received on 25 July 2014 | Manuscript published on 30 July 2014 | PP: 36-43 | Volume-3 Issue-3, July 2014 | Retrieval Number: C1133073314/2014©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Abstract: Groundwater is indispensable to humankind, but with increasing load over this precious resource it has become necessary to study it in detail with geological as well as hydrogeological aspects to understand the nature of the groundwater resource of a region and also include socioeconomic aspect in order to manage it well and use it in a sustainable way, vulnerability assessment of the resource is conducted to highlight the areas which are more susceptible to degradation and later on suitable decision can be taken to safeguard the resource. In the present study such as attempt has been made to account the groundwater vulnerability using as overlay index method, DRASTIC, which is used to prepare a vulnerability map using GIS, of the study area, Jabalpur District, Madhya Pradesh. This method accounts for the aquifer parameters like depth to water, net recharge, aquifer media, soil media, impact of Vadose zone and hydraulic conductivity. The DRASTIC Vulnerability index (DVI) is calculated as the sum of product of ratings and weights assigned to each of the parameter on the scale of 1 to 10 and 1 to 5 respectively. The vulnerability index ranges from 47-209 and is classified into three classes and it was deduced that approximately 15%, 76% and 9% of the area lies in low, medium and high vulnerability zones. Further the study of population growth water demand by various sectors are also assessed to find the overall vulnerability in terms of groundwater development which shows that if the current trend of growth in population industrial and agricultural sector continues, soon the district will fall into exploited zone. The map formed can be used for the management decision for sustainable use of the aquifer
Keyword: Jabalpur District, Ground water vulnerability, DRASTIC parameters, Geographic Information System GIS)

Scope of the Article: Water Supply and Drainage