GROUNDWATER SCENERIO in Jharkhand District: Bokaro & Chatra
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GROUNDWATER SCENERIO IN Jharkhand District: Bokaro & Chatra Swati Dokania HABITAT FOR HUMANITY TRUST Table of Content: Topic Page No. • Introduction 3 • Source of ground water 3 • Types of water assessment units 6 • Source of ground water recharge 7 • Annual extractable ground water 8 resource • Validity stage of ground water 9 extraction • Yearly municipal budget and their 9 development 10 • Legal provisions 12 • Conclusion 2 Introduction In this paper, we shall be looking at the groundwater resources in the two districts of Jharkhand namely, Bokaro and Chatra. Bokaro is one of the 24 districts of the state of Jharkhand with a population of 20, 21,918 (as on 2011)1. It’s a newly formed district created on 1st April, 19912 craved out from Dhandbad and Giridh district. Bokaro steel city is the district headquarter of Bokaro. The district Bokaro comprises of two sub-divisions namely Chas and Bermo. It consists of eight blocks i.e. Chas, Gomia, Nawadih, Bermo, Peterwar, Kasmar, Jaridih and chandankiyari alongwith 251 gram panchayats and 744 villages. Damodar River flows from west to east in the central part of the district. Konark and Jamuniya are other two important rivers of the district. Chatra is a district in Jharkhand state with a population of 13, 11,382 (as on 2011 census)3.It was formed on 29th of May, 19914.The district is divided into 12 blocks alongwith 154 gram panchayats and 1474 villages. The main rivers5 of the district are Yamuna, Barki, Chako, Damodar and Garhi. Chatra itself serves as the districts headquarter. Source of Groundwater As per the research, the principal source of ground water in both the districts is rainfall. Bokaro receives an annual average rainfall of 1363.576. According to the district survey report2018, the maximum rainfall received by the district is 1669.587.More rainfall in the area attracts clouds and brings rainfall to the area. While, the annual precipitation received by Chatra is 1250mm (as per the CGWB report). In the year 2020, the actual rainfall level for the Chatra district was 1,174.82 mm8 while that for Bokaro was 1099.71 mm9.The Chatra district faces drought because of the irregular precipitation10. As per the records of IMD maps presented by SANDRP11, the amount of rainfall from 1-06-2021 to 30-6-2021 for Bokaro was 36 percent and for Chatra was 6 percent. The pre monsoon rate of rainfall12 for the period 1-03-2021 to 31-06-2021 was recorded as 110 and 296 percent 1 Page 3,Bokaro district at a glance, sl no. 1 , http://cgwb.gov.in/District_Profile/Jharkhand/Bokaro.pdf 2 Brief history of the district, https://bokaro.nic.in/history/ 3 Page5,chatra at a glance, sl no. 1, http://cgwb.gov.in/District_Profile/Jharkhand/Chatra.pdf 4About district, https://chatra.nic.in/ 5Page 10, drainage, http://cgwb.gov.in/District_Profile/Jharkhand/Chatra.pdf 6 Page 9, rainfall and climate, http://cgwb.gov.in/District_Profile/Jharkhand/Bokaro.pdf 7 Page 27, district survey report-Bokaro, https://cdn.s3waas.gov.in/s3a760880003e7ddedfef56acb3b09697f/uploads/2018/10/2018103194.pdf 8Chatra district rainfall, https://knoema.com/atlas/India/Chatra-District/Rainfall-actual-level 9 Bokaro rainfall, https://knoema.com/atlas/India/Bokaro/Rainfall-actual-level 10 Page 10,2.0, hydrometerology,http://cgwb.gov.in/District_Profile/Jharkhand/Chatra.pdf 11 District rainfall departure map- Jharkhand,https://sandrp.in/2021/06/30/june-2021-district-wise-rainfall-in-in- indias-sw-monsoon/ 12 District rainfall departure map-Jharkhand,https://sandrp.in/2021/06/01/state-wise-rainfall-pre-monsoon-2021- season/ 3 respectively. Both the districts receive most of its rainfall during the rainy seasons. The rate of rainfall has moderately declined in both of the districts. In addition to it, the other major source of ground water in both the districts is the rivers that flow through it. Bokaro is 224 m above sea level. The district receives most of the groundwater from the Damodar River which flows from the west to east in the central part of the district. The major rivers of the Chatra districts are Yamuna, Barki, Chako, Damodar and Garhi. Some waterfalls are also observed in the districts. Judging the historical water level trends (2009 – 2018)13 given by CGWB (Central Ground Water Board) the ground water level in Bokaro shows fluctuations. Nawadih block shows a fall of 0.2677 m/ year, Chas shows decline of 0.2401m/ year and Tenughat shows decline of 0.0524 m/year. Rise in few blocks has been observed. Petarbar shows a rise of 0.0898 m/ year, Jaina More also shows a rise in the level by 0.0784m/ year. The block Phusro Bermo also shows a rise of 0.1856 m/year. The fluctuating level of groundwater in the district is an alarming issue. The groundwater level in chatra shows decline of 0.1134 m/year in Bagra and rise of 0.0799 m/ year in Simaria. The level of groundwater is declining in the district of Chatra as well. As per the records by the Ground Water Year Books of Jharkhand, the pre-monsoon water level in the year 201814 for the Bokaro district was minimum 3.10 m bgl and maximum 11.10 m bgl while that for Chatra district was mininmum 5.90 m bgl and maximum 13.33 m bgl. On May 201915, the depth in Bokaro district was minimum 2.89 m bgl and maximum 12.65 m bgl while that for Chatra was minimum 5.10 m bgl and maximum 15.75 m bgl. On January 202016, the depth in Bokaro district was minimum 2.31 m bgl and maximum 8.51 m bgl while that for Chatra was minimum 1.80 m bgl and maximum 10.45 m bgl. The annual range of fluctuation in the level of groundwater from May 2018 to may 201917 was minimum 0.003and maximum 0.45 m bgl rises and minimum 0.1 and maximum 6.47 m bglfalls in Bokaro district. While, minimum 2.2 and maximum 2.2 m bgl rise and minimum 0.87 and maximum 4.9 m bgl fall in Chatra. As per the records by the Ground Water Year Books of Jharkhand ,the range of fluctuation between (2003 May - 2012May) - 2013/May18 for Bokaro was minimum 0.85 and maximum 4.41 m bgl rise and minimum 0.31 and maximum 2.41 m bgl fall. That for Chatra district was a 13 Annexure- 2, Page 56, http://cgwb.gov.in/Regions/MER/Reports/Revised%20Ground%20Water%20Year%20Book%202018-19- 11.5.2020-Jharkhand.pdf 14 Page 12, table 2, district wise categorization of depth to water level may 2108,sl no. 1& 2, http://cgwb.gov.in/Regions/MER/Reports/Revised%20Ground%20Water%20Year%20Book%202018-19- 11.5.2020-Jharkhand.pdf 15 Page 12, table 2,district wise categorization of depth to water level may 2019,sl no. 1& 2, http://cgwb.gov.in/Regions/MER/Reports/Ground%20Water%20Year%20Book%202019-20-Jharkhand.pdf 16 Page 15, table 5, district wise categorization of depth to water level Jan. 2020, http://cgwb.gov.in/Regions/MER/Reports/Ground%20Water%20Year%20Book%202019-20-Jharkhand.pdf 17 Page 12, table 6,district wise categorization of annual fluctuation level, http://cgwb.gov.in/Regions/MER/Reports/Ground%20Water%20Year%20Book%202019-20-Jharkhand.pdf 18 Page 68, table 14 , http://cgwb.gov.in/Regions/GW-year-Books/GWYB-2013-14/Jharkhand%20GWYB13-14.pdf 4 fall of minimum 1.57 and maximum 2.15 m bgl. The range of fluctuation between January (2010-2019 mean) - January, 202019 for Bokaro was minimum 0.25 and maximum 2.04 m bgl rise and minimum 0.25 and maximum 0.62 m bgl fall. And that for Chatra district was minimum0.08 and maximum 3.4 m bgl rise and minimum 0.38 and maximum 3.8 m bgl fall. The data clearly says that the rise in the level of groundwater in both the districts has declined. The readings from few more data of water level trends in both the districts show the depletion in the ground water level. For instance20, the level of groundwater in Bokaro district on August 2018 was minimum 0.90 m bgl and maximum 9.95 m bgl and that for Chatra district was 1.17 m bgl and 10.16m bgl. There was a sudden decrease with 2.49 m bgl minimum in Boakro and 4.37 m bgl minimum in Chatra to 10.81 maximum in Bokaro and 12.21 in Chatra on January 2019. The exploitation of groundwater in the name of development is a key factor contributing to sudden decrease in the levels of groundwater. As per the records from news article Down to Earth21, Jharkhand has been said to be a drought prone. Both the districts recorded rain shortages of about 40 percent and above during the monsoon in the year 2018. Delayed monsoon and inadequate irrigation facility has led to crop failure in the state. Reasons farmers are committing suicide in the state. Most of the blocks of chatra district show that the ground water level is moderately poor22.Another news article23 posted on 4th of august 2015 by The Pioneer, also witnessed the decline of groundwater level in the districts. According to an article published by Jagran24, a farmer named Lokenath in Chatra district hanged himself because of the abundant water supply. The report says that a sum of Rs. 50,000 was taken as loan from a relative. The farmer being unable to repay the loan was going through a mental stress from months.