Vadodara gets ‘recharge’ guide

Vadodara: In a first, a guide map for groundwater exploration and recharge has been prepared for a city of the size of Vadodara.
Researchers from M S University’s Department of Civil Engineering have not only studied the quality of groundwater in various areas of the city but also suggested the best suitable ways to recharge and improve groundwater table. For this, based on geo hydrology, the city was divided into seven different zones considering thickness and depth of aquifer. Aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock, rock fractures or unconsolidated materials like gravel, sand or silt.
The study has revealed an interesting fact – groundwater conditions of Gujarat’s cultural capital is highly complicated from the geohydrological point of view.
“Even as Vadodara’s geographical area is not so huge, its groundwater conditions vary at shorter distance. Dandia Bazaar and Manjalpur would be just 4 km away, but when it comes to its aquifer properties, one is not suitable for recharging while other is,” said Dr Sanskriti Mujumdar, who along with late professor A S Patel had guided the study carried out by ME student Sachin Shah.
Areas in Vadodara have great variations in aquifer thickness ranging from 15 to 35 metres, the study titled ‘Suitability of Recharge Structures for Various Zones of Vadodara city’ revealed.
Interestingly, the study has also revealed that some of the locations in Pratapnagar Bridge-Mandvi area- Hathikhana (all near Walled City) and Munjmahuda-Chakli circle, railway station area surrounding posh Alkapuri and Pratapgunj, there are gas pockets because of which they are neither suitable for exploration not for recharging. Gas pockets are those pockets where gas entraps the pores under the ground.
Pockets of Ajwa Road, Waghodiya Road, Harni-Warasiya Ring Road, Dabhoi Road and densely populated Karelibaug fall in the dark zone where recharging is not feasible because the pores are already filled up with fine particles. “In such areas, water should be stored in underground or surface tanks,” said Mujumdar. For areas falling in zone I and V – Alkapuri, Gotri, Sevasi, Subhanpura, Gorwa, Sama and IPCL recharge wells are suitable as recharge rate here is good.
Areas like Old Padra Road, Akota, Atladra, Manjalpur, Makarpura, Pratapnagar, Fatehgunj, Nizampura, Sama-Savli Road, Chhani Road – falling in zones II, III and VI - storage cum recharge wells are suitable as permeability of aquifer is less.
The litholog studies of areas were studied with the data that was collected from government agencies like the Gujarat Water Resources Development Corporation and the Gujarat Water Supply and Sewage Board apart from private consultants.