TECHNICAL REPORTS: SERIES ‘D’ CONSERVE WATER – SAVE LIFE भारत सरकार GOVERNMENT OF INDIA जल संसाधन मंत्रालय MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES कᴂ द्रीय भूजल बो셍 ड CENTRAL GROUND WATER BOARD केरल क्षेत्र KERALA REGION भूजल सूचना पुस्ततका, पाल啍का셍 स्ज쥍ला, केरल रा煍य GROUND WATER INFORMATION BOOKLET OF PALAKKAD DISTRICT, KERALA STATE तत셁वनंतपुरम Thiruvananthapuram December 2013 GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES CENTRAL GROUND WATER BOARD GROUND WATER INFORMATION BOOKLET OF PALAKKAD DISTRICT, KERALA ए. डी. अनिल चꅍद सहायक भूजलवि嵍य A. D. Anil Chand Assistant Hydrogeologist KERALA REGION BHUJAL BHAVAN KEDARAM, KESAVADASAPURAM NH-IV, FARIDABAD THIRUVANANTHAPURAM – 695 004 HARYANA- 121 001 TEL: 0471-2442175 TEL: 0129-12419075 FAX: 0471-2442191 FAX: 0129-2142524 Table of Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 1 2.0 RAINFALL AND CLIMATE ................................................................................................. 2 3.0 GEOMORPHOLOGY AND SOIL ........................................................................................ 3 4.0 GROUNDWATER SCENARIO ............................................................................................ 4 5.0 STATUS OF GROUNDWATER DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT .................. 8 6.0 GROUNDWATER RELATED ISSUES AND PROBLEMS............................................. 13 7.0 AWARENESS & TRAINING ACTIVITY ......................................................................... 13 8.0 NOTIFICATIONS BY CGWA/SGWA ............................................................................... 14 9.0 RECOMMENDATIONS....................................................................................................... 14 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Average Monthly Rainfall Distribution for Palakkad District (2007-2011) ............ 2 Table 2: Terrain units in Palakkad District Area % ............................................................ 3 Table 3: Categorisation for groundwater development as on 31st March, 2009 ................... 6 Table 4: Categorisation for Irrigation Suitability ................................................................... 7 Table 5: Water Scarce Areas .................................................................................................. 9 Table 6: Artificial Recharge Scheme Proposal (Figure 6) ................................................... 12 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Index map of Palakkad District, Kerala............................................................... 16 Figure 2: Depth to Decadal Average Water Level (Premonsoon April 2002-11) .............. 17 Figure 3: Depth to Decadal Average Water Level (Postmonsoon November 2002-11) .... 18 Figure 4 : Hydrogeology of Palakkad District, Kerala State ............................................... 19 Figure 5: Categorisation of Blocks in Palakkad District ...................................................... 20 Figure 6: Artificial Recharge Structures proposed in Palakkad District .............................. 21 LIST OF ANNEXURES Annexure 1: List of Exploratory Wells drilled in Palakkad District Annexure 2: Chemical Analysis Data of GWMW samples collected from Palakkad district during April 2009 GROUND WATER INFORMATION BOOKLET OF PALAKKAD DISTRICT, KERALA STATE GROUND WATER INFORMATION BOOKLET OF PALGHAT DISTRICT, KERALA STATE PALAKKAD DISTRICT AT A GLANCE Sl .No. ITEMS STATISTICS 1. GENERAL INFORMATION Geographical area (Sq km) 4480 Administrative Divisions (as in 31-03-2011) Number of Tehsil/Block 5/13 Number of Panchayats/Villages 91/163 2. GEOMORPHOLOGY Major physiographic units Midland and Highland Major Drainages Bharathapuzha, Bhavanipuzha 3. LAND USE (Hectares) as in 2009 Forest area 136257 Net area sown 198043 Area sown more than once 104305 Cultivable area 22861 Current Fallow 13940 Non agricultural Area 2458 4. MAJOR SOIL TYPES Laterite Soil, Virgin forest soil, Black cotton soil, Alluvial soil. 5. AREA UNDER PRINCIPAL CROPS (Hectares) as in 2009-10 Rice 224413 Fruit crops 43813 Vegetables 7408 Pepper 2559 Cashew nut 2702 Tapioca 2838 Coconut 60528.6 Arecanut 9589 Rubber 52270 6. AREA IRRIGATED BY DIFFERENT SOURCES (Hectares) as in 2009-10 Wells (Dug wells &Tube wells / Bore wells) 22298 Tanks / Ponds 6763 Canals 42056 Other Sources 18640 Net Irrigated area 90304 7. NUMBER OF GROUNDWATER MONITORING WELLS (as in 31-3-2011) No. of Dug wells 66 (CGWB) + 31 (GWD) No. of Piezometers 36 (CGWB) + 36 (GWD) 1 GROUND WATER INFORMATION BOOKLET OF PALAKKAD DISTRICT, KERALA STATE 8 PREDOMINANT GEOLOGICAL Recent Alluvium FORMATIONS Sub-recent Laterites Archaean crystalline formations (Charnockite, Gneiss, Schists) 9. HYDROGEOLOGY Major Water bearing formations Weathered & fractured crystalline formations, Laterites Recent alluvium Depth to water level (Pre-monsoon, April 2011) 1.55 to 11.23 mbgl Depth to water level (Post-monsoon, Nov. 2011) 0.73 to 8.67 mbgl Long term water level trend (2002-2011) Rise - 0.02 to 2.24 Fall - 0.01 to 5.49 10. GROUND WATER EXPLORATION BY CGWB (As on 31-03-2011) No. of wells drilled (EW, OW, PZ, SH, Total) EW -62, PZ – 55 Total - 117 Depth Range (m) 65 - 300 Discharge (lps) 0.01 to 36 Transmissivity (m2/day) 0.2-291 11. GROUND WATER QUALITY (As on 2009) Presence of chemical constituents more than Chemical constituent F reported permissible limits(e.g. EC, F, As, Fe) beyond permissible limits from Attappadi and Chittur blocks.. Local occurrence of inland salinity reported from Chittur block. 12 DYNAMIC GROUNDWATER RESOURCES (2009) – in MCM Annual Replenishable Ground Water Resources 795.25 Net Annual Groundwater Draft 484.17 Projected demand for Domestic and Industrial Uses 141.79 up to 2025 Stage of Ground Water Development, % 60.88 13. AWARENESS AND TRAINING ACTIVITY Mass Awareness Program organized Date/Place/No. of Participants 2003 Chittur 300 2005 Kollengod 300 2005 Palakkad 300 2009 Pattambi 300 14. GROUND WATER CONTROL AND REGULATION Number of Over Exploited blocks 1 Number of Critical blocks 1 Number of blocks notified 1 15. MAJOR GROUND WATER PROBLEMS AND Occurrence of Fluoride ISSUES localized Salinity Problems. Pollution of ground water from industrial waste 2 GROUND WATER INFORMATION BOOKLET OF PALAKKAD DISTRICT, KERALA STATE 1.0 INTRODUCTION Palakkad (Palghat) (Figure 1) is the land of Palmyrahs and Paddy fields. Palakkad is a major Paddy growing area of the State. It is often called as the “Gateway of Kerala”. There is considerable change in the land use and cropping pattern in the district for the last five years. Due to low income from paddy and coconut, farmers are changing the cropping pattern to cash crops like sugarcane, vegetables and flower cultivation. Over dependence on groundwater for domestic, irrigation and industrial purposes in the district has led to the lowering of water table and water scarcity especially along the eastern parts. In most of the areas especially in eastern part of the district decline of water levels necessitates deepening of existing dug wells and putting deep bore wells thereby increasing cost of pumping and quality deterioration. Local enquiry revealed that farmers have taken loan from the banks for putting bore wells and fitting pump sets for irrigation purposes. The district receives on an average 2362 mm of rainfall annually. During 1998 the district recorded a good rainfall of 2407 mm and subsequently the rainfall has been decreased considerably. 1.1 Work carried out by CGWB The compilation on Hydrogeological condition in Palakkad district was done by John Kurian (1981) and subsequent reappraisal surveys by him during 1981 - 82. Reappraisal survey in parts of Palakkad district was carried out by K. Md. Najeeb, (1990 - 91). Exploration was carried out during first and second phases of SIDA project during 1973-78 and 1983-88 respectively. Drilling activities were carried out by CGWB during 2001-2003. The report on "Ground Water Resources and development potential of "Palakkad district" was published in 1997. E. Shaji, Scientist 'B' carried out Reappraisal hydrogeological survey during 2002 – 03 and 2005-06. Micro level study was carried out in Chittur block for identifying the fluoride in groundwater. Construction of piezometers were carried out in over exploited and industrial belts of the district during 2002-03, 2005-06., 2006-07 & 2007-08. Mass awareness and groundwater management trainings were organized at Palghat and Chittur blocks during 1999, 2002, 2005 and 2009. Pamphlets depicting groundwater scenario of the district were distributed to the public during each function. 1.2 Drainage and Irrigation The district is drained mainly by two rivers, viz Bharathapuzha and Bhavani Rivers. Of these Bhavani is east flowing and form a tributary of the Cauvery River. Bharathapuzha basin can be divided into 50 watersheds and 290 mini watersheds. Soil erosion is more in the upstream parts of 1 GROUND WATER INFORMATION BOOKLET OF PALAKKAD DISTRICT, KERALA STATE the basin. Dendritic is the common drainage pattern. 75 % of the population is depending on surface water resources for their irrigation needs, mainly from Bharathapuzha, its tributaries and other water bodies. There are 12 reservoirs in the district associated with two major rivers and its tributaries viz - Parambikulam, Peruvaripallam, Thoonakadavu, Chulliyar, Pothundi, Moolathara, Meenkara, Walayar, Malampuzha, Gayathri, Kanjirapuzha and Mankulam. There are number of irrigation projects major and minor, existing in the district.