Prof. C.

Karunakaran
Endowment Lecture Series 6
1st
August
2005

Ground Water Management:

A Key for Sustainability

Dr. Saleem Romani

Chairman, Central Ground Water Board
Government of India

CENTRE FOR EARTH SCIENCE STUDIES

Thiruvananthapuram
Prof. C. KARUNAKRAN (1917-1999)
Cheruvari Karunakaran was born on 6th May 1917 at Thalasseri in Kannur District of Kerala
State. He had his education in Chennai and then in the Banaras Hindu University from where he
took his Masters Degree in Geology in 1938. He started his career as a geologist in the Mineral
Survey Department, Uttar Pradesh. He served as a lecturer in Geology in the Presidency College,
Madras (now Chennai), and later took charge of the newly created Geology Department in Andhra
University, Waltair. Through his inspiring classes, he earned a reputation as an outstanding teacher
who could instill academic enthusiasm in his students.
Prof. Karunakaran was appointed as an officer in the Geological Survey of India (GSI) in the year
1948. He became a Deputy Director General of the GSI in charge of the Southern Region in
1968, and the Director General on April 3, 1974. After superannuation in 1975, he was appointed
as Officer on Special Duty in the Oil and Natural Gas Commission, and later became a Technical
Member of the Kerala State Planning Board. He established the Centre for Earth Science Studies
in 1978 and was its first Director. The various positions he has held include: Member, Governing
Body of Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology; Vice Chairman, ESCAPE International; President,
Indian Geophysical Union; President, Institute of Indian Peninsular Geology; and. President,
Indian Academy of Geosciences. Prof. C. Karunakaran passed away in Chennai on May 28, 1999.
Prof. Karunakaran has several outstanding achievements to his credit. He led the first joint scientific
expedition to the Great Nicobar Island in 1965, which received worldwide attention. He pointed
out in his report that Pygmalion Point (now Indira Gandhi Point), and not Kanyakumari, is the
southern most part of India. He organised a scientific expedition to the Zemu Glacier in Sikkim,
where geophysical methods to measure the thickness of ice were used for the first time in India.
Prof. Karunakaran conceived and formulated the idea of an Indian Scientific Expedition to
Antarctica, which he submitted to the then Indian Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi. A person
of wide interests, Prof. Karunakaran’s knowledge of orchids was well recognised. He was an expert
diver, and held the diving record with the Cochin Naval Base for his age group. He has won
several awards including the Coggin Brown Memorial Gold Medal, Professorship and Gold Medal
of Andhra University, and membership of the Explorer’s Club.
A multidisciplinary institute that brings together all disciplines of earth science under one roof
was Prof. Karunakaran’s dream. He held extensive discussions with scientists in many leading
research centres around the world about his dream. The product of his vision has evolved into a
leading institute in the country.
GROUND WATER MANAGEMENT:
A KEY FOR SUSTAINABILITY

Dr. Saleem Romani

Chairman, Central Ground Water Board
Government of India

CENTRE FOR EARTH SCIENCE STUDIES

Thiruvananthapuram 695031
August 1, 2005
Prof. C. Karunakaran
Endowment Lecture Series: No. 6

Ground Water Management:

A Key for Sustainability

Dr. Saleem Romani

Chairman, Central Ground Water Board
Government of India

 CENTRE FOR EARTH SCIENCE STUDIES

July 2005

Typesetting and layout: Dr. N. Subhash, Centre for Earth Science Studies
Printed at Akshara Offset Printers, Thiruvananthapuram
 1

GROUND WATER MANAGEMENT:

A KEY FOR SUSTAINABILITY

1. INTRODUCTION
The importance of ground water in meeting the growing demand from
agriculture, industry and domestic sectors cannot be overemphasized. The
ubiquitous availability of ground water, coupled with technological advancements
in its extraction and its deemed ownership as easement to land, has led to a
quantum leap in development of this resource during the last five decades. The
unscientific and inefficient use of ground water contributes to its increasing
scarcity, reflected in steep decline of water level and under certain situations,
sharp deterioration in quality of water. A continuous declining trend in ground
water levels has been recorded in pockets of more than 370 districts in the
country. At the same time, a phenomenal increase in the overexploited areas in
the country has also been observed. Out of 8187 blocks/ watersheds, 673 are
categorized as overexploited, where the stage of groundwater development exceeds
the annual replenishment and 425 blocks/watersheds are Dark or critical where
groundwater development has reached a high level. The development activities
over the years have adversely affected the ground water regime. Excessive ground
water withdrawal for agriculture/ industrial use in certain pockets create pumping
depressions which adversely affect the availability of drinking water and in certain
cases results in ground water quality deterioration, especially in areas of inland
salinity and coastal regions. Ground water, being a hidden resource, is often
developed without proper understanding of its occurrence in time and space.
Ground water management on scientific lines is the key for sustainability of this
vital resource.

2. GROUND WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

Keeping in view the increasing thrust on groundwater resources and the present
scenario of availability vis-a vis demand there is a need to re-orient our approach
to ground water management. It is very important that the management of
ground water in the country is taken up with a proper planning keeping in
mind various social obligations and its requirement for various purposes. Further,
emphasis should be given for purpose driven studies involving research and
development for scientific development of this precious natural resource.

For an effective supply side management it is essential to have full knowledge of

hydrogeological controls that govern the yield and behaviour of groundwater
2
levels under abstraction stress, the interaction of surface and groundwater in
respect of river base flow and changes in flow and recharge rates due to their
exploitation. The effects of groundwater development can be short term and
reversible or long term and quasi-reversible which require a strong monitoring
mechanism for scientific management. In demand side, management the socio-
economic dimension plays an important role involving managing the users of
water and land. Mere regulatory interventions like water rights and permits and
economic tools of water pricing etc. cannot be successful unless the different
user groups are fully involved to get their cooperation and participation. For
effective management of groundwater resources there is a need to create awareness
amongst the different water user groups and workout area specific plans for
sustainable development. Thus, groundwater management not only requires
proper assessment of available resource and understanding of interconnection
between surface and groundwater system but also actions required for proper
resource allocation and prevention of the likely adverse effects of uncontrolled
development of groundwater resources.

2.1 Scientific Development of Ground Water

The Annual Replenishable Ground Water Resources in India is estimated as
432 BCM. Keeping a provision for domestic, industrial uses and natural loss to
the system, the available Ground Water Resources for irrigation is 361 BCM.
The ground water draft is around 150 BCM, which is 42% of the total annual
recharge. The States of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan with UT of
Chandigarh and Diu have recorded very high level of ground water development
(more than 85%). In case of Rajasthan low rainfall conditions have resulted in
poor recharge to ground water, whereas in case of Delhi, Haryana and Punjab -
high rate of ground water withdrawal is the main cause for high stage of ground
water development. States of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu and UT of Daman and
Pondicherry are also having significantly high stage of ground water development.
Few blocks in these states have already reached the critical stage of ground water
development.

The scenario of ground water availability may give an alarming impression of

scarcity of this vital resource. However, when we experience flood-drought
syndrome and water logging in large areas, signals of mismanagement of ground
water resources becomes very much obvious. The lack of proper understanding
of the local ground water regime behaviour and demand driven development
without scientific planning, aggravates the situation. The need for scientific
planning in development of groundwater under different hydrogeological
situations is discussed below to provide the necessary insight for effective
management of this vital and scarce resource.
 3

Development of Deep aquifers

Stage of ground water development is very high in the states of Haryana, Punjab
and Rajasthan and majority of the dark and overexploited blocks fall in these
states. However, there is ample scope of ground water development from deeper
aquifers in Punjab, Haryana and U.P. The studies by CGWB in alluvial parts
of Haryana and U.P have revealed the existence of a huge reserve of groundwater
in the deeper aquifers that has not been fully utilized. The thickness of the
alluvium in the area exceeds 500 m and only a small fraction of this is under
active circulation due to prevailing shallow groundwater development. The
underutilization of the groundwater from deeper aquifers has resulted in a near
stagnant condition at depths and provided the necessary time-factor for the
deterioration in quality of ground water. It was observed that Calcium-
Bicarbonate type water occurs in the phreatic aquifers. This water gradually
deteriorates to Sodium-Bicarbonate type with depth, indicating a base exchange
between the cations of groundwater and the sub-surface clays. In the ground
water discharge areas, the potentiometric head of water in the deeper aquifers
have been recorded to be higher than that in the shallow aquifers. Slowly but
surely, the inferior quality water leaks upwards as well as laterally to deteriorate
the quality of water in shallow aquifers of downstream areas.

It is observed that in the southern part of the states of Punjab, Haryana and
U.P, fresh water aquifers of limited thickness overlies the brackish to saline
water in deeper aquifers. It is evident that the deeper aquifers in alluvial areas
are not fully developed in upper reaches and the unutilized ground water in
confined aquifers ultimately is lost to the saline aquifers adjacent to the basin
boundary. Even though multiple aquifer systems occur in large areas in upper
reaches of the river systems, ground water development is from only shallow
phreatic aquifer, which is reflected in the increasing decline in ground water
level. In these areas, the deeper aquifers are not developed which is not only
underutilization of resources but also the quality of water deteriorates with time.
A large fresh water resource of confined aquifers is ultimately lost to the saline
belts. There is a great scope of ground water development of deeper aquifers in
alluvial areas of Punjab, Haryana and western U.P where the confined aquifers
have good quality water.

Development of ground water in areas with low stage of ground water

development
A large part of the country is covered with areas where the level of ground water
development is below 40%. Special attention is drawn to the eastern and north
4

eastern parts of the country, mainly in the states of Assam, Bihar, Orissa, UP
and West Bengal, where small and marginal farmers are not able to afford the
cost of sinking and energisation of wells due to their poor socio-economic status.
Water marketing is prevalent in these areas, where effluent farmers having
substantial land holdings, monopolise on ground water extraction for selling to
poor farmers. There is a great scope of ground water development in these
areas, which often faces floods during rainy seasons. The concept of virtual
water is also very much relevant to such areas of low stage of ground water
development. In areas like Gujarat where in addition to the requirement of
water for dairy development, fodder for the cattles is also grown which leads to
over exploitation of ground water. If the fodder requirement is met from
agriculture production in the eastern states a large quantity of water can be
saved in the form of virtual water, hidden in the grains, which can be transported
to water scarcity areas.

Development of flood plain aquifers

The flood plains in the vicinity of rivers are good repositories of groundwater.
A planned management of groundwater in the flood plain aquifers offers an
excellent scope of its development to meet the additional requirements of water.
The development of ground water in Yamuna flood plain area in Delhi is an
example of scientific management of water resources. During rainy season, the
floodwater spreads over the plains but due to very shallow water table the rejected
recharge result in river out flows. Central Ground Water Board constructed 95
tubewells in Palla Sector in the depth range of 38-50 m for Delhi Jal Board.
The total pumpage during the pre-monsoon period of 2002 was 40 M.G.D.,
which created a regional drawdown of about 5 m in the flood plain area. It was
observed that immediately after rainy season, the depleted aquifer fully recouped.
Thus, over-development of shallow aquifers in flood plains creates the necessary
sub-surface space for augmentation of groundwater from the river flows during
the monsoon. Induced recharge is an effective management tool to meet the
gap of demand and supply in areas adjacent to rivers with active flood plains. A
ground water flow model for the Palla area is under calibration, which will be
used as a tool for planning future ground water development in the area so as to
maximize the induced recharge. Development of flood plain aquifers is feasible
in various parts of the country and should be taken up on a large scale.

Development of Groundwater in Water Logged Areas

The practice of surface water irrigation without much consideration of
groundwater status has often resulted in water logging and soil salinity problems
 5

in command areas due to gradual rise of groundwater levels with time. As per
the assessment made by the working Group on Problem Identification in Irrigated
Area with suggested Remedial Measures (1991), about 2.46 mha of the area
under surface water irrigation projects is water logged or threatened by water
logging. The water logged areas in canals command offer scope for ground
water development by lowering the water table upto 6 metres or more. The
inferior quality of water can be mixed with canal water in a proportion acceptable
for irrigation. Thus, not only additional water resources for irrigation can be
created but also the lowering of water table will help in rainfall recharge in the
area that will help in improvement of soil and water quality.

Development of Ground Water in areas adjacent to canal commands

For an integrated development of surface and groundwater, one of the effective
strategies is to use surface water in one area and utilize the recharge by
development of groundwater in areas adjacent to canal commands. A case study
of Bargi dam in M.P demonstrates the effectiveness of groundwater development
in checking water logging in canal command areas.

In general, the southern and southeastern parts of the command area, located
adjacent to the main Left Bank canal (LBC) are poor in groundwater resources
with yield of wells varying between 4 and 13 cu m/hr. for 6m drawdown.
However, in the central and the northern parts of the command area, good
aquifers occur in the alluvium, which attain a thickness of upto 176 metres. In
a few pockets adjacent to the river Narmada, tubewells yield upto 360 cum/hr.
for 6 m drawdown. The depth to water level is generally shallow along the main
LBC but increases northwards and it is more than 25 m below ground level
adjacent to Narmada River. Thus, the regional ground water flow direction is
towards river Narmada. A network of branch canals and distributaries are being
constructed extending upto river Narmada to achieve the targeted area under
surface irrigation. In view of the hydrogeological setup of the area, it is
apprehended that with widespread canal irrigation, problems of water logging
followed by salinity hazards may crop up in the area in the long run. The advent
of surface irrigation may also have a dampening effect on the present development
of groundwater resources because of its availability at lower tariffs, thereby
indirectly aggravating the water logging problem in the area. Central Ground
Water Board advocates the development of ground water resources in the central
and northern parts of Bargi L.B.C. command (where already good aquifers
exist) instead of extending the canal network to this area. This would result not
only in a proper utilization of available water resources but also the pumpage
from groundwater storage will provide a sub-surface drainage to the areas, which
6

are likely to be waterlogged. Thus, conjunctive use of surface water and

groundwater would help irrigation in large areas without any adverse effect of
the uncontrolled surface irrigation.

Development of Ground-water in Coastal Regions

Ground water in the coastal area occurs under unconfined to confined conditions
in wide range of unconsolidated, semi-consolidated and consolidated geological
formations. Increasing exploitation and reduction of coastal fresh water ouflow
upset the dynamic equilibrium in the coastal aquifers. The ground water salinity
in coastal areas can be attributed to several reasons such as inherent salinity,
land inundation due to creeks, tidal actions, salt laden winds, irrigation by
saline water , upconing and finally the lateral sea water ingress or sea water
intrusion. The saline water intrusion is the result of mismanagement of aquifers
either due to overdevelopment or due to unscientific way of exploitation .The
saline water intrusion carries with it the risks of the matrix of the aquifers getting
contaminated, causing a permanent loss to the fresh water storage capacity.
Studies carried out by CGWB in the coastal tract of the country have revealed
the following facts.

In the state of Kerala the Warkali and Vaikrom formations of Tertiary age forms
the potential fresh water aquifer. The thickness exceeds 600m in the central
portion of the basin in the Allepy district, where the basement rock is yet to be
encoutered. The salinity found in some pockets is because of leaching of salts
from the aquifer material (insitu) and not due to seawater ingress. However,
the saline – fresh water interface could not be observed in these prolofic aquifers,
it should be exploited optimally with a caution and intensive monitoring is
required. At the same time, there is an urgent need to undertake ground water
modeling in select areas to study the dynamics of saline – fresh water interface,
which will ultimately help in scientific development of deeper fresh water in
these areas.

In the coastal tract of Gujarat, generally the unconfined aquifer occur down to
depth of 40 m bgl whereas the semi confined to confined conditions are seen
between 30m to 200 m bgl. Due to progressive seawater intrusion, the quality
of ground water is steadily deteriorating in the coastal tarcts of Kutchh and
Saurashtra. In saurashtra due to topographical gradients, the salinity is restricted
to certain localized areas within 10 km from the coast. In south Gujarat coast
there is very little seawater intrusion because of poorly permeable Deccan traps
available in the coast. However, the entire coastline of Gujarat is dotted with
creeks and under tidal influence almost 4 to 6 kms inland. At places near coast,
 7

because of intense ground water withdrawl the water table declined to the tune
of 3 m below mean sea level, leading to reversal of hydraulic gradient. Hence,
there is a need of scientific planning for development of these aquifers.

In the state of Tamil Nadu coastal salinity is quite alarming in certain parts.
Especially in the Minjur area of Thiruvallur district, it has been observed that
the seawater – freshwater interface has moved 2 to 9 Km since 1969. The reason
could be intensive development of ground water in these areas resulting into
sharp decline in ground water levels and changing the complete hydrodynamics
of the area. Further studies in other coastal district of the country has indicated
that the salinity of ground water are due to inherent reasons in majority of the
areas and not due to to sea water intrusion. However, detailed studies need to
be undertaken to understand the dynamics of saline – fresh water interface to
plan the development of coastal aquifers on scientific lines and in an optimal
manner.

Development of groundwater in quality problem areas

In areas where quality of groundwater is affected by natural contaminants, a
scientific understanding of the area has to be made before development of
groundwater. Occurrence of high concentration of arsenic, beyond permissible
limit of 0.05 mg/1in groundwater, has been observed in eight districts of West
Bengal. The studies of CGWB have established that the arseniferous tracts lie
mainly within the upper delta plain at shallow depth of 20 to 80 meters below
ground level. The management strategy in such areas is to develop groundwater
through deep tubewells. In contrary to it development of deeper aquifers has
led to increase in fluoride concentration of ground water in some granitic terrain
of peninsular India. A proper management of available groundwater resources
and taking measures to increase the sustainability of shallow aquifers through
watershed management helps in tiding over the problem of fluoride
contamination in groundwater.

2.2 Rainwater Harvesting and Artificial Recharge to Groundwater

The demand-side management strategy of control and regulation of groundwater
resources though essential in certain critical areas, is not easily accepted by the
people who consider it as an infringement on their rights. With efforts to make
public aware about the necessity of sustainable groundwater development the
most effective management strategy is augmentation of available ground water
resources. Rainwater harvesting and artificial recharge to groundwater is very
effective in demand side management of groundwater resources.
 8

Integrated watershed management programmes including water conservation

and artificial recharge are being taken on priority to have a holistic approach
in which watershed forms a unit. Keeping this in view, Central Ground Water
Board is preparing a watershed atlas of India on 1: 250,000 scale, suiting to
the requirement of ground water domain. CGWB has carried out studies to
demarcate the areas where decline of ground water level is on continuous basis
and explored the possibility of artificial recharge of aquifers by utilizing the
surplus monsoon-water runoff. A total of 4.5 lakh sq.km was identified in the
country, which need artificial recharge of ground water. It is estimated that
annually about 36.4 BCM of surplus surface run-off can be recharged to
augment the ground water. In rural areas, techniques of artificial recharge by
modification of natural movement of surface water through suitable civil
structures like Percolation tanks. Check dams, Nala Bunds, Gully plugs, Gabion
structures etc. and sub-surface techniques of recharge shaft, well recharge etc.
have been found feasible. The roof top rainwater harvesting is feasible both by
augmenting the ground water storage as well as by storing it in specially built
tanks.

During the IXth Plan, CGWB executed a Central Sector Scheme on Artificial
Recharge of Ground Water. In rural areas of the country 69 schemes have
been completed which involved construction of 25 percolation tanks, 32 check
dams/weirs, 68 Recharge wells, 236 Recharge shafts, and 10 sub-surface dykes.
These schemes have successfully demonstrated the efficacy of recharge
structures. These schemes utilized mainly the surplus monsoon runoff as source
water for artificial recharge.

The Thar Desert of Rajasthan, covering 60% of land area on western side of
state, presents a paradoxiical situation of surplus and deficit water areas during
short period of monsoon. The Indira Gandhi Nahar Paryojna (IGNP) is
utilizing water from Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers for irrigation in Western Thar
Desert. During monsoon, enormous quantity of outflow from Harike Barrage
cannot be fully utilized and flows out to Pakistan. The monsoon river flood
waters of Ghaggar river is also retained in 19 natural depressions causing water
logging problems in the adjoining low lying areas like Baropal, where water
level has risen from 50 m bgl to less than 5 m bgl in last one decade. In
contrast to this situation of surplus water availability in northern part of the
Thar Desert, the adjoining districts of Jalore, Sikar, Jhunjhunu and Nagaur
are facing alarming decline in ground water levels and even drinking water is
scarce. There is a great scope of transferring the surplus water available for a
short period during monsoon to adjacent areas for artificial recharge of fast
 9

drying up aquifers. The existing lift irrigation systems (Noher – Sahwa and
Gajner lift systems) can be extended to cover adjoining districts of Jhunjhunu,
Sikar, Churu, Nagaur and adjoining areas to provide source water for artificial
recharge. The augmentation of ground water resources during the monsoon,
through appropriate artificial recharge structures, will go a long way in meeting
the water crisis in these water starved areas.

Development of wastelands through ravines is also a serious matter of concern.

There is an urgent need to take suitable measures to arrest degradation of land
through ravine development. Erosion in ravine areas is very fast and large areas
are engulfed in a short period affecting the agricultural production, livelihoods
of the people and ecological environment. Gullies once formed initiate head
ward erosion and ends with bad land topography that cannot be utilized for any
purpose. CGWB has taken up feasibility studies in the ravine areas of Mandsaur
district, M.P. with an objective to construct various water conservation and
artificial recharge structures to arrest backward erosion as well as to augment
ground water resources in the area. Similar studies are proposed to be undertaken
in other ravine areas of the country to prepare a consolidated scheme.

2.3 Regulation of Ground Water Development

An important strategy of management especially in critical areas is to regulate
the development of groundwater. Implementation of any such regulation or
control would require a strong database and supporting tools for decision-making.
Under the World Bank aided Hydrology project implemented in CGWB and
nine peninsular states a GIS based dedicated software ‘GEMS’ has been developed
for the processing, analysis and interpretation of ground water data. The Central
Ground Water Authority, constituted under Environment (Protection) Act of
1986 is playing a key role in regulating and control on development of
groundwater in over exploited areas to protect the quantitative as well as qualitative
aspects of groundwater availability. Any management decision taken unilaterally
by a regulatory agency without social consensus is often difficult to implement.
Necessary awareness of stakeholders on status of groundwater resources and
quality, with likely consequences of not taking up management actions, is the
key to successful implementation.

Central Ground water Authority plays a leading role in organizing mass awareness
programmes throughout the country and provides training to different
stakeholders on innovative and low cost techniques on rainwater harvesting in
rural and urban areas.
10

CONCLUSIONS
The socio-economic development of our country is largely dependent on the
avialability of water resources. Responsibilty of Scientists increases manifold
when a vital resource like ground water is exploited without full understanding
of hydrogeological controls, leading to long-term damage to the system.
Management of ground water should be focussed on delivery of water to people
in the best way at the least cost and on sustainable basis. This requires an
integration of policy makers, field investigations and implementing agencies.
Science is dificult to sell yet there is a need for new kind of research and extension
systems. A strong scientific base has to be developed in each state, which can
provide the necessary technical support to implementing agencies. With
awareness and training at local levels, participation of different stakeholders
can be ensured for efficient utilization of ground water resources. Time has
come when scientists have to join hands with public for management of ground
water on sustainable basis.
 Dr. Saleem Romani
Dr. Saleem Romani is currently working as Chairman, Central Ground Water Board (Ministry
of Water Resources, Govt. of India). With more than 35 years of professional experience, he
has held several prestigious assignments, including team leaders of Hydrogeology for Prime
Minister’s programme of First Technology Mission on Drinking Water in tribal district of
Jhabua, M.P., which initiated the concept of watershed for ground water management in the
country. After obtaining his M.Sc. Tech. degree from University of Roorkee, he started his
professional career in 1969 as Junior Geologist in Geological Survey of India and worked
extensively to unravel the hydrogeological controls on aerial and depthwise variation of ground
water quality in arid regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan. After joining Central Ground Water
Board in 1972, he was associated with various challenging assignments such as Upper Yamuna
Project on ground water sharing dispute of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, Engineering
Hydrological solutions in Karstic limestone terrain of Madhya Pradesh to save high grade
limestone from mine flooding due to upcoming Bansagar Project. As a Regional Director, he
was actively involved in World Bank assisted Hydrology Project and initiated innovative scientific
concepts for artificial recharge of ground water under different hydrogeological conditions.
As Member Secretary, Central Ground Water Authority he ably explored the concept of effective
governance of ground water resources of the country and headed committees at the direction
of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, on environmental issues. He was a Member of delegations
to Dhaka for Indo-Bangladesh Joint Committee of Experts on sharing of river waters.

He is author of more than 50 scientific papers with credit of a new diagram (used as Romani
diagram) for geochemical study of water, a new method for optimum yield from large diameter
wells. He has participated actively in various National and International Conferences and
chaired technical session in 3rd World Water Forum Japan. His research interest span over a
wide area of hydrogeological problems related to effective management of groundwater resources.
CENTRE FOR EARTH SCIENCE STUDIES
Thiruvananthapuram
www.cessind.org