Assessment of Impact of Urbanization on Groundwater Resources using GIS Techniques- Case Study of Hyderabad, India

Hyderabad is one of the fastest growing Indian megacities which have significant impact on its environment. The surface and groundwater resources are severely affected by uncontrolled expansion and densification of the city. For the better understanding, recovery and to prevent future deterioration of these significance resources, it is necessary to have knowledge of the impact of urban growth in various ways on environment. Historical groundwater level and quality data obtained from different sources as well as by field study data is used for this analysis. In some cases missing data points were interpolated and verified by providing certain criteria. The map of rate of groundwater level change per year showed the locations of recharge activity by sewage and other effluents as well as overexploitations by industrial and some upper middle class residential areas. The results obtained from groundwater quality analysis are then compared with the BIS (Bureau of India) as well as WHO (World Health Organization) standards for drinking water. It had been observed that many water samples had heavy metal elements and bacterial formation above permissible limits and it is not suitable for drinking purpose. The water samples obtained from locations which do not qualify for drinking water use according to WHO as well as BIS standards are identified. These results are then overlapped with map of rate of groundwater level change to establish the relation between urban groundwater recharge and its effect on groundwater quality.