Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

ROLE OF RS AND GIS IN MAPPING OF GROUNDWATERPOTENTIAL ZONES FOR PANZARA RIVER, MAHARASHTRA, INDIAUSING AHP

A.P. Vora and S. P. Nikam

Abstract

As a result of the increasing demand for water in recent years, there is a truly urgent need for reassessmentof groundwater resources in the light of modern efficient techniques for better managing and protecting ofthe aquifer system. In this study an attempt was made to map groundwater potential zones for the PanzaraRiver in north Maharashtra, India, using GIS and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) decision makingtechnique with an aerial of 111623.98 ha (1116.23 km2). ArcGIS 10.8 was used to generate a number ofthematic maps and the ranking has been given for each individual parameters of each thematic map byusing weighted overlay analysis. The potential zones were identified in terms of poor, moderate, good andexcellent zones with an area of 25749.23 ha (257.49 km2), 58817.88 ha (588.17 km2), 25869.91 ha (258.69 km2)and 1186.71 ha (11.86 km2) respectively. The results demonstrate that the groundwater resources in thestudy area require careful management and soil and water conservation planning. The generated modelwill help as a guideline for planning a suitable water storage and conservation plan in the future andthereby help maintaining a groundwater table and future extraction plan in the study area.