Groundwater zoning and sustainable management strategies for groundwater resources in the Bist-Doab region of Punjab, India

The present study attempts to delineate groundwater zones using multi-criteria decision analysis based on land-use/cover pattern, groundwater table, and groundwater quality for both domestic and agricultural use in the Bist-Doab region of Punjab, India. The region has about 71% land under agricultural activities, 12% under built-up area, 7% under forest cover, 5% under tree plantation, 3% under water bodies, and the remaining 2% under open area. As far as the groundwater table is concerned, about 8% of the region has a groundwater table below 30 m, mainly around the urban areas of Jalandhar. Qualitatively, the groundwater has not been found suitable for domestic consumption in areas around Jaijjon, Taunsa, Jalandhar urban agglomeration, Shahkot, and Nakodar blocks. In 10% of areas of Sultanpur Lodhi, Shahkot, Nakodar, Phagwara, and Bhulath, the groundwater has been found unsuitable for irrigation. The groundwater zoning resulting from the stacking of these thematic layers reveals that about 20% of the region has a poor quality of groundwater, mainly occupying the areas of urban agglomeration of Jalandhar, Phagwara, Hoshiarpur, parts of Sultanpur Lodhi, Mahilpur, and Balachaur blocks. In the urban cluster of Jalandhar, Phagwara, and Hoshiarpur, a high level of urbanization and industrialization is responsible for the poor quality of groundwater. The untreated discharge of industrial wastes from pharmaceutical companies is responsible for poor quality of groundwater in the Balachaur block of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district. Further, the groundwater of the remaining 80% of the region is of better quality, but that too is vulnerable to groundwater deterioration due to various anthropogenic factors, such as higher groundwater extraction, intensive application of chemical fertilizers in the fields, and prevailing cropping pattern. The study suggests certain groundwater management strategies, viz. comprehensive planning of land-use/cover pattern, change in cropping pattern, change in prevailing agricultural practices such as water-saving irrigation, shift to rain-fed irrigation, minimum use of chemical fertilizers, promotion of organic farming, treatment of urban and industrial wastes, rainwater harvesting, artificial recharge, regular monitoring, legal restriction on water use, and energy pricing, which can be efficient in dealing with the emerging problems of groundwater resources in the region.