Groundwater Studies Using Statistical Techniques for Gurugram, Haryana

Abstract

The Municipal Corporation of Manesar has undergone a lot of changes in demographics, due to its close proximity to Gurugram. The population of Municipal Corporation of Manesar as per the 2011 census is 1,08,023 and it comprises of 29 villages. Gurugram district, majorly consists of Quaternary Alluvium which comprises of sand, silt, and clay. The land use and population of Manesar has changed drastically over the years, which has skyrocketed the water demand. As reported by the Central Groundwater Board, the high dependence on groundwater has resulted in the depletion of water table by 1–1.2 m per year. This throws light on groundwater recharge, that is, possibilities for groundwater recharge. According to the Groundwater Cell, Gurugram, the current groundwater levels of the Municipal Corporation of Manesar varies from 10.64 to 115.4 m below the ground level. A technique of estimation of the groundwater potential zones is the Analytical Hierarchy Process, which can be seen like a parent–child relation analogy, where groundwater potential zones are the parent and the other parameters related to the potential groundwater zones are analogous to children. The weighting of the parameters such as land use, drainage density, lineament density etc. was conducted using the Analytical Hierarchy Process. Further scope of the present study could be to identify the potential of recharge of weak groundwater potential zones, that is, either through artificial recharge mechanisms or through assessing the topography of the area by inspecting depressions, which could be regions of water storage.