Land Use Planning and Management in Jamrani Dam Command

Abstract

The Present study was conducted to assess the groundwater inventory in Jamrani Dam Command situated in Uttrakhand and Uttar Pradesh, India. Groundwater inventory was prepared for different blocks of Udhamsingh Nagar, Rampur, and Bareilly districts in Jamrani Dam Command from 1988 to 2010 at an interval of five years. Over-exploitation of groundwater has created an alarming situation in a few blocks of Rampur and Bareilly districts in Jamrani Dam Command. In the year 2010, the Bilaspur, Baheri, Gadarpur, and Rudrapur blocks of the study area were found under the safe category; Swar and Meerganj blocks were found under the critical category whereas Milak and Shergarh blocks were found under the over-exploited category. The maximum and minimum stages of development were found at 109.08% and 59.31% at Shergarh and Rudrarpur blocks, respectively. The overall stage of development for the study area was 68.44% and the area as a whole may be put under the semi-critical category for the year 2010. In the present study, the physical-chemical properties of groundwater in shallow aquifers and their suitability for drinking, irrigation, and industrial uses were studied. The physical-chemical properties of the groundwater of the study area were determined using standard methods of water quality analysis. A comprehensive and proper groundwater recharge plan for the identified landforms with their prevailing geomorphic features in the study area has been suggested to maintain the groundwater at a safe and desired level in the future in the Jamrani Dam Command. Various water recharging structures namely: a series of check dams, percolation tanks, farm ponds and nallah bunds are most possible techniques for recharging groundwater aquifers by utilizing excess water available during monsoon season in the form of runoff obtained from the land surface. Geographic information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing were applied to the study area to delineate different land uses from the satellite imageries (IRS-1D). The study area delineated from the S.O.I. toposheets was also classified into nine land use classes i.e. agricultural land, grassland, water body, scrubland, and forest etc.