Groundwater systems of the Indian Sub-Continent

Abhijit Mukherjee, Dipankar Saha, Charles F. Harvey, Richard G. Taylor, Kazi Matin Ahmed, Soumendra N. Bhanja

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

203 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Indian Sub-Continent is one of the most densely populated regions of the world, hosting ~23% of the global population within only ~3% of the world's land area. It encompasses some of the world's largest fluvial systems in the world (River Brahmaputra, Ganges and Indus Basins), which hosts some of the highest yielding aquifers in the world. The distribution of usable groundwater in the region varies considerably and the continued availability of safe water from many of these aquifers (e.g. Bengal Basin) is constrained by the presence of natural contaminants. Further, the trans-boundary nature of the aquifers in the Indian Sub-Continent makes groundwater resource a potentially politically sensitive issue, particularly since this region is the largest user of groundwater resources in the world. Indeed, there is considerable concern regarding dwindling well yield and declining groundwater levels, even for the highly productive aquifers. Though irrigation already accounts for >85% of the total ground water extraction of the region, there is a mounting pressure on aquifers for food security of the region. Highly variable precipitation, hydrogeological conditions and predicted, impending climate change effects provide substantial challenges to groundwater management. The observed presence of natural groundwater contaminants together with the growing demand for irrigated food production and predicted climate change further complicate the development of strategies for using groundwater resources sustainably. We provide an introduction and overview of 11 articles, collated in this special issue, which describe the current condition of vulnerable groundwater resources across the Indian Sub-Continent.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-14
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Hydrology: Regional Studies
Volume4
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1 2015
Externally publishedYes

Funding

This Special Issue would remain incomplete without expressing our sincere and deep sense of gratitude to a number of organizations. We acknowledge the cooperation of the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Central Ground Water Board (Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University College London and Dhaka University. SNB acknowledges CSIR (Government of India) for their support for providing SPM fellowship. We would like to express our sincere thanks to Prof. Okke Batelaan, Editor-in-Chief (Asia/Pacific) of the Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies for his valuable editorial advices, and Ms. Prabha Saikia and Ms. Mary Sivasubramanium, Elsevier Journal Office, for their untiring help during the handling of the manuscripts for this Special Issue. We would also like to show our gratitude to Prof. Geoff Syme, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Hydrology for his encouragement and support. Lastly, but the not the least, we thank all of the reviewers, who have helped us with their evaluation of the submitted manuscripts and the authors for their patience and trust on us.

Keywords

  • Aquifer
  • Groundwater
  • Groundwater quality
  • Indian Sub-Continent
  • Irrigation

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