For official use Technical Report Series DISTRICT GROUNDWATER BROCHURE KANYAKUMARI DISTRICT, TAMIL NADU A. Balachandran Scientist - D Government of India Ministry of Water Resources Central Ground Water Board South Eastern Coastal Region Chennai September 2008 0 DISTRICT AT A GLANCE (KANYAKUMARI) S. No. ITEMS STATISTICS 1. GENERAL INFORMATION i. Geographical area (Sq. km) 1671.84 ii. Administrative Divisions (As on 31-3-2007) Number of Taluks 4 Number of Blocks 9 Number of Villages 81 iii. Population (As on 2001 Censes) Total Population 1676034 Male 832269 Female 843765 iv. Average Annual Rainfall (mm) 1448.6 2. GEOMORPHOLOGY i. Major physiographic Units (i). Western Ghats (ii). Coastal Plain. ii. Major Drainages Pazhayar, Valliyar & Tamirabarani. 3. LAND USE (Sq. km) (2005-06) i. Forest area 541.55 ii. Net area sown 793.23 iii. Barren & Uncultivable waste 31.49 4. MAJOR SOIL TYPES 1. Red soil 2. Lateritic soil 3. Clayey soil, 4. River Alluvium & 5. Coastal Alluvium. 5. AREA UNDER PRINCIPAL CROPS (Ha.) 1. Paddy -21709 (56%) (2005-2006) 1. Coconut – 9388 (24%) 2. Banana – 5509 (14.2%) 4. Pulses – 166 (< 1 %) 6. IRRIGATION BY DIFFERENT SOURCES (2005-06) Number Area irrigated (Ha.) i. Dug wells 3349 1535 ii. Tube wells 1303 913 iii. Tanks 2623 13657 iv. Canals 53 22542 vi. Net irrigated area 27694 Ha. vii. Gross irrigated area 38885 Ha. 1 7. NUMBER OF GROUND WATER MONITORING WELLS OF CGWB (As on 31.03.2007) i. Dug wells 14 ii. Piezometers 8 8. PREDOMINANT GEOLOGICAL Recent Alluvium, & Warkalai FORMATIONS Sandstones, Peninsular Gneisses Charnockites, Khondalites, Granites and Pegmatites 9. HYDROGEOLOGY i. Major water bearing formations Warkalai Sandstones, Coastal sand and weathered & fractured Charnockites, Khondalites and Granites gneisses. ii. Pre- monsoon depth to water level (May 2006) 2.66 – 20.06 m bgl iii. Post- monsoon depth to water level (Jan. 2007) 1.19 – 14.57 m bgl iv. Long term water level trend in 10 years (1998- Annual 2007) (m/yr) Rise Fall Min.: 0.1119 Min.: 0.0417 Max: 0.5744 Max: 0.6789 10. GROUND WATER EXPLORATION BY CGWB (As on 31-03-2007) i. Number of Exploratory wells 14 ii. Number of Observation wells 4 iii. Number of Piezometers under Hydrology Project-I 8 iv. Depth range (m) 36 – 200 v. Discharge (lps) 1.6 – 12 vi. Storativity (S) 5.693 x 10 -3 – 1.42 x 10 -2 vii. Transmissivity (m 2/day) 10 – 300 11. GROUND WATER QUALITY (As on MAY 2006) i. Presence of chemical constituents more than TH as CaCO 3, NO 3. permissible limit ii. Type of water Ca-Cl, Ca-HCO 3 & Na-Cl 12. DYNAMIC GROUND WATER RESOURCES (As on 31.03.2004) in MCM i. Annual Replenish able Ground Water Resources 260.26 ii. Total Annul Ground Water Draft for all purposes 42.16 iii. Projected demand for Domestic and Industrial 23.30 Uses up to 2025 iv. Stage of Ground Water Development 16 % 13. AWARENESS AND TRAINING ACTIVITY i. Mass Awareness Programs Organized Year 2003-04 Place Kalvillai No. of Participants 250 ii. Water Management Training Organized Year 2003-04 Place Kalvillai No. of Participants 28 2 14. EFFORTS OF ARTIFICIAL RECHARGE & Technical Guidance were RAINWATER HARVESTING provided as when sought 15. GROUND WATER CONTROL AND REGULATION i. Number of Safe Blocks 9 ii. Number of Blocks Notified Nil 16. MAJOR GROUND WATER PROBLEMS AND (i) The quality of formation water ISSUES. in Khondalites is saline and un fit for drinking purposes (ii) TH as CaCO 3 and NO 3 concentration are found in more than permissible limit at select places in the district 3 1.0. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Administrative Details Kanyakumari district is divided into 4 taluks. The taluks are further divided into 9 blocks (Plate-I), which further divided into 81 villages. Area in Hectares S. No. of No. of Taluk including Block No. Villages Villages Reserved Forest 1 Thovala 36907 13 Thovala 13 27739 20 Agastheeswaram 10 2 Agastheeswaram Rajakkamangalam 10 59363 25 Thiruvattar 9 3 Kalkulam Thuckalay 8 Kurunthancode 8 43175 23 Munchirai 7 4 Vilavancode Killiyur 7 Melpuram 9 Total 167184 81 81 1.2. Basin and sub-basin The district is part of the composite east flowing river basin,” Between Pazhayar and Tamirabarani” as per the Irrigation Atlas of India. Valliyar, Pazhayar, Tamirabarani, and Aralvaimozhi are the important Sub-basins / Watersheds. 1.3. Drainage The major part of Kanyakumari district is drained by the principal rivers namely Kodayar and Paralayar and their tributaries. Kodayar River rises in the Agastiar Malai and flows in a southerly direction flowing for a length of 10 km from its origin, leading to natural drainage called the Kodayar Lake, which serves as the main source of irrigation system with an extensive command area in the district. Later, it flows in a southwesterly direction and south of Kuzhithurai and joins the Arabian Sea near Thengapatnam, which is at a distance of 56 km west of Cape Commerin. The river flows through rugged terrain through a succession of falls and cascades. One such fall lies south of Tiruparappu. Chittar-I and Chittar-II are the major tributaries of Kodayar. Tamirabarani, which is one of the important rivers of the district, which is flowing in the central part of the district and drain in the Melpuram, Kuzhithurai, Munchirai and Killiyur blocks. The river falls into Indian Ocean after traversing Killiyur block. The Pazhayar River originated at an altitude of 1300 m amsl in the Mahendragiri hills and the river water taken away through channels for irrigation. The river is benefited 4 by both SW-NE monsoons. It completes its 20 km journey after joining the Arabian Sea. Its creek can be seen near Manakudi, 12 km south of Nagarcoil. The river Valliyar originated at an altitude of 950 m MSL at the Vallimalai Hills and has a very limited irrigation system. The length of the river is nearly 29 km, and period of flow of water in this river is for 6 months. Near Manavalakurichi the river joins in the Arabian Sea. 1.4. Irrigation Practices The nine-fold lands use classification for the district is given below. (2005-06) S. No. Classification Area (Ha) 1 Forests 54155 2 Barren & Uncultivable Lands 3149 3 Land put to non agricultural uses 26890 4 Cultivable Waste 0 5 Permanent Pastures & other grazing lands 133 6 Groves not included in the area sown 581 7 Current Fallows 1433 8 Other Fallow Lands 1536 9 Net Area sown 79323 Total 167200 (Source: Department of Economics & Statistics, Govt. of Tamil Nadu) The chief irrigation sources in the area are the Canals, tanks, wells and tube/bore wells and other sources. Irrigation is higher in Agastheeswaram, Thovala and Rajakkamangalam blocks followed by Thuckalay, Kurunthancode, Killiyur, Melpuram, and Munchirai blocks. The block-wise and source-wise net area irrigated (Ha) (2005-06) is given below. Net area irrigated by Total Net S. Block Tube/ Ordinary Other Area No. Canals Tanks Bore wells wells Sources irrigated 1 Thovala 4685 260 28 59 18 5050 2 Agastheeswaram 5215 449 0 315 0 5979 3 Rajakkamangalam 2335 638 494 577 0 4044 4 Thiruvattar 588 1112 0 12 94 1806 5 Thuckalay 1021 2529 0 19 3 3572 6 Kurunthancode 813 2199 0 185 4 3201 7 Munchirai 254 554 0 31 12 851 8 Killiyur 667 1058 0 35 52 1812 9 Melpuram 335 983 0 6 55 1379 Total 15913 9782 522 1239 238 27694 (Source: Department of Economics & Statistics, Govt. of Tamil Nadu) 5 1.5. Studies /Activities carried out by CGWB Central Ground Water Board has carried out hydrological surveys in the district during 1985-86. Besides these a few water supply investigations were also carried out by CGWB for the Central Government Organisations. Ground water exploration has been carried out by CGWB in the district during the year 1993 and 1994 to assess the capabilities of aquifers, water quality of individual aquifers and ground water worthiness of the district. In all, fourteen exploratory wells and four observation wells with depths ranging from 36 to 200 m bgl were drilled in the district. Fourteen dug wells and 8 peizometers are monitored in entire Kanyakumari district to study the long-term water level fluctuation and take appropriate remedial measures in over-exploited and critical areas for sustainable ground water developments. 2.0. RAINFALL AND CLIMATE The Kanyakumari district received the rain under the influence of both southwest and northwest monsoons. The southwest monsoon chiefly contributes to the rainfall in the district. Most of the precipitation occurs in the form of cyclonic storms caused due to the depressions in Bay of Bengal. The normal annual rainfall over the district varies from about 826 to 1456 mm. It is the minimum around Kanyakumari in the southeastern part of the district. It gradually increases towards west, north and northwest and attains a maximum around Thackalay. The highest humidity is generally recorded in May with the value of 95 percent whereas the minimum of 45 percent is recorded during February. The maximum wind speed of 17.74 km/hr is recorded during August and the minimum wind speed of 5.53 km/hr is recorded during December. Wind velocity is low from October to December. The Sun Shine Hours is March-April forms the average bright sunshine hours. The maximum of 12.74 hrs/day has been recorded during April and the minimum of 5.74 hrs/day is recorded during November. The temperature data indicate higher and lower temperatures prevailed during monsoon period. The average maximum temperature during May is 35.93 o C. The average minimum temperature recorded is 23.85 o C during January.