Situation of groundwater level in South and Southwest districts of Delhi is critical as the water level has depleted, however, hydrogeologists in the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) said the situation can be overcome with good recharge during the monsoon season.
While the authority will celebrate the groundwater week in the first week of June, the official emphasised on the role of rain water harvesting systems in monsoon season. “To maintain good recharge of groundwater, the rate of extraction should be proportional to recharge. And for good aquifer, waterbodies play pivotal role,” said an official.
In January CGWB monitored groundwater tab of eight districts in Delhi. In South district, the level of groundwater was found at 51.76 meters down from earth's surface, however, according to hydrogeologists 6 to 10 meters below the ground water is considered good.
In all the districts of the Capital, groundwater tab was measured below in South and Southwest district. Groundwater level in Asola Bhatti range was found at 45.98 meters to 51 meters. It is less populated area. Groundwater was found 34.28 and 59.51 meters below the ground surface at Hauz Kahs and Pushp Vihar vihar area.
Sources in the CGWB said land usage and rainfall both contribute in fluctuating groundwater. “In South and Southwest areas, due to hard rock, depth to water level below ground level is high because rate of draft (water extraction) in these areas is more than recharge and hard rock are not good aquifer,” said the hyderogeologist in CGWB.
While stating about the deeper and shallower water levels in the National Capital Territory (NCT), the CGWB hydrogeologist said the deeper water levels are mostly found in South and Southwest districts of NCT Delhi, while the shallower water levels are found in Central, North and East part of Delhi.
The CGWB report showed nearly 50 per cent wells of South district showed depth to water level more than 40 meters below ground level (mbgl) and nearly 30 per cent wells showed depth to water level in the range of 20 to 40 meters below groundlevel.
In New Delhi district 70 per cent of wells showed depth to water level in range of 8 to 12.36 mbgl while only 30 per cent wells showed depth to water level from ground above 20 per cent.
In North Delhi, 10 per cent of well showed depth to water level is 8 meters whereas 90 per cent of wells showed depth to water level in range of 1.63 to 3.53 mbgl.
In North-West districts, 35 per cent and 65 per cent monitoring stations respectively have depth to water level in the range of 5-10mbgl and 12-20 mbgl, while in East, North-East, North West and West district 33, 85, 100, 34 and 44 (per cent) monitoring stations respectively have depth to water level in the range of 2 to 5 mbgl.