कें द्रीय भूमि जल बोर्ड

जल संसाधन, नदी मिकास और गंगा संरक्षण

मिभाग, जल शमि िंत्रालय
भारत सरकार
Central Ground Water Board
Department of Water Resources, River
Development and Ganga Rejuvenation,
Ministry of Jal Shakti
Government of India

AQUIFER MAPPING AND MANAGEMENT

OF GROUND WATER RESOURCES
AMBIKAPUR BLOCK, SARGUJA DISTRICT,
CHHATTISGARH

उत्तर िध्य छत्तीसगढ़ क्षेत्र, रायपुर

North Central Chhattisgarh Region, Raipur
 Acknowledgement

The author is grateful to Shri G C Pati, Chairman, Central Ground Water Board for
giving opportunity for preparation of Aquifer Map and Management Plan of Ambikapur
Block, Surguja district of Chhattisgarh state. I express my sincere gratitude to Shri
G.L.Meena, Member (WQ & WTT) CGWB for giving valuable guidance, encouragement and
suggestions during the preparation of this report. The author is thankful to Dr. S.K.Samanta,
Head of the Office, Central Ground Water Board, NCCR, Raipur extending valuable guidance
and constant encouragement during the preparation of this report. I am extremely grateful
to Sh. A.K.Patre, Scientist-D, for his continuous guidance and support during preparation of
this report. The author is also thankful to Sh A.K. Biswal, Sc-D and Sh. J.R.Verma, Sc.D for the
guidance and suggestions. I would like to acknowledge the help rendered by Smt Prachi
Gupta, Sc-B while preparing aquifer map. The author is also thankful to Sh G Sreenath, Sc-B
and Sh Sidhanta Sahu, Sc-B for providing the data of ground water exploration in Surguja
district. The efforts made by Sh. T.S. Chouhan, Draftsman, for digitization of maps are
thankfully acknowledged. The author is also thankful to the state agencies for providing the
various needful data. The author is thankful to Technical Section, Data Centre, Chemical
Section, Report Processing Section and Library of CGWB, NCCR, Raipur for providing the
various needful data.

Uddeshya Kumar
Scientist-B (JHG)
 AQUIFER MAPPING AND MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR AMBIKAPUR BLOCK
(SURGUJA DISTRICT), CHHATTISGARH

CONTENTS
Topic Pages
1. Salient Information 01-15
About the area
Population
Rainfall
Agriculture and Irrigation
Groundwater Resource Availability and Extraction
Water Level Behaviour
2. Aquifer Disposition 16-18
Number of aquifers
Aquifer wise characteristics
3. Ground water resource, extraction, contamination and other issues 19
Aquifer wise resource availability and extraction
Categorisation
Chemical quality of ground water and contamination
4. Ground Water Resource enhancement 19
5. Issues 20
6. Management plan 20-21
7. Conclusion 22
ABBREVIATIONS
DW Dugwell m bgl meter below ground level
EC Electrical Conductivity m2/day Square meter/ day
GS Gabion structures m3/day cubic meter/day
GW/ gw Ground Water MCM/mcm Million Cubic Meter
ha Hectare mm Milimeter
Ham Hectare meter OE Overexploited
HP Handpump (Shallow) Sq Km Square Kilometer
lpm litres per minute STP Sewage Treatment Plant
lps liters per second T Transmissivity
m meter TW Tubewell
 AQUIFER MAP AND MANAGEMENT PLAN: AMBIKAPUR BLOCK

1. Salient Information:

About the area: Ambikapur Block is situated on the northern part of Surguja district of
Chhattisgarh and is bounded on the north by Surajpur and Balrampur district, in the west by
Lakhanpur Block, in the south by Mainpat block and in the east by Lundra and Batauli Blocks.
The block area lies between 22.86 and 23.24 N latitudes and 83.02 and 83.35 E longitudes. The
geographical extension of the study area is 676.32 sq. km representing around 13 % of the
district's geographical area. Administrative map of the block is shown in Fig. 1. Eastern part
mainly comprises of structural plains on Gondwana rocks and denudational plateau on
Proterozoic rocks and in southern part region of plateau. Geomorphology map is shown in
Figure 2. The major drainage of the block includes Banari Nala and Gungata Nala, which are
parts of Son sub basin and Ganga Basin. Drainage map shown in Fig. 3.

Population: The total population of Ambikapur block as per 2011 Census is 279717 out
of which rural population is 158646 while the urban population is 121071.The population break
up i.e. male- female, rural & urban is given below -

Table- 1: Population Break Up

Total Rural Urban
Block Male Female
population population population
Ambikapur 279717 142833 136884 158646 121071

Source: CG Census, 2011

Growth rate: The decadal growth rate of the block is 19.36 as per 2011 census.

Rainfall: The study area receives rainfall mainly from south-west monsoon. About 87%
of the annual rainfall is received during June to September and July and August are the months
of maximum precipitation. The area gets some rainfall during winter season also. Average
annual rainfall in the study area is (Average of the last five years i.e. 2013 to 2017) 1185.1 mm
with 70 to 80 rainy days.
Table-2: Rainfall data in Ambikapur block in mm
Year 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Annual rainfall 998.9 1067.9 1081.9 1393.0 1383.7

Source: IMD

1
Figure 1 Administrative Map of Ambikapur Block
2
Figure 2 Geomorphology Map of Ambikapur Block

3
Figure 3 Drainage Map of Ambikapur Block

4
Agriculture and Irrigation: Agriculture is practiced in the area during Kharif and Rabi season
every year. During the Kharif, cultivation is done through rainfall while during the Rabi season;
it is done through ground water as well as partly through surface water like canals and other
sources. The groundwater abstraction structures are generally Dugwells, Borewells /tubewells.
The principal crops in the block are Paddy, Wheat, Vegetables and pulses.
In some areas, double cropping is also practiced. The agricultural pattern, cropping
pattern and area irrigated data of Ambikapur block is given in Table 3 (A, B, C, D, and E).

Table 3 (A): Land use and Agricultural pattern (in ha)

Area not
Total Revenue Net Double Gross
available Nonagricultural Agricultural
geographical forest sown cropped cropped
for & Fallow land Fallow land
area area area area area
cultivation

67632 14317.5 6830 6245 5016 28839 6261 35100

Table 3 (C): Cropping pattern (in ha)

Cereal
Fruits and Mirch
Kharif Rabi Pulses Tilhan Sugarcane
Jowar Vegetables Masala
Wheat Rice & Others
Maize
20881 804 2000 21983 1372 7 3427 705 2353 223 348

Table 3 (D): Area irrigated by various sources (in ha)

No. % of
No. of
of No. Irrigated irrigated
canals Net Gross
Irrigated bore Irrigated of Irrigated No. of Irrigated area by area
(private Irrigated irrigated
area wells/ area dug area Talabs area other wrt. Net
and area area
Tube wells sources sown
Govt.)
wells area
30 4311 1320 236 2630 272 215 165 1804 5743 7094 20.21

Table 3 (E): Statistics showing Irrigation by Ground water

Percentage of Area
Net Irrigated Net Irrigated Area
Block Irrigated by ground
Area by ground water
water
Ambikapur 5743 498 8.67

5
 Groundwater Resource Availability and Extraction: Based on the resource assessment
made, the resource availability in aquifer wise in Ambikapur block is given in the table-4.

Table – 4 (A): Ground Water Budget of Ambikapur block in Ham

Ground Water Recharge (Ham)
Monsoon Season Non-monsoon season Total Annual Total
Assessment Ground Water Natural
Unit Name Recharge Recharge Recharge (Ham) Discharges
Recharge
from Other from from Other Recharge (Ham)
from Rainfall
Sources Rainfall Sources

5951.74 635.55 477.47 1742.30 8807.06 440.35

Ambikapur

Table – 4 (B): Ground Water Dynamic Resource (Unconfined Aquifer) of Ambikapur block in
Ham
Current Annual Ground Water Extraction (Ham) Annual
Annual Net Categorizatio
GW Stage of
Extractabl Ground n
Allocatio Ground
e Ground Water
Irrigation Industrial Domestic Total n for Water (OE/Critical/S
Water Availability
Use Use Use Extraction Domestic Extractio emicritical/Sa
Recharge for future
Use as n (%) fe)
(Ham) use
on 2025

3793.42 2.95 733.05 4529.42 834.77 3735.57 54.14 Safe

8366.71

Table – 4 (C): Ground Water Static Resource (Unconfined Aquifer) and Dynamic Resource
(Confined Aquifer) of Ambikapur block in Ham
Static Difference Storativity Dynamic Ground Bottom level In storage Sum of
Resources Piezometric (S) Water Resource of of the top Ground Dynamic GW
Area (Ha) Head (Pre- Confined Aquifer confining Water (Confined
post) m (Ham) layer (m) Resource of Aquifer) and
Unconfined In storage
Aquifer GW
(Ham) (Unconfined
Aquifer)
resource
(Ham)
67632 6.4 0.000246 106.48 200 12459.84 12566.32

Existing and Future Water Demand (2025): The existing draft for irrigation in the area is
3793.42 Ham while the total extraction for all uses is 4529.42 Ham. At present scenario to meet
the future demand for water, a total quantity of 3735.57 ham of ground water is available for
future use.

6
 Water Level Behavior: (i) Pre- monsoon water level: In the pre-monsoon period, it has
been observed that in Ambikapur block, water level in dugwells (phreatic aquifer) varies
between 3.7 to 9.9 mbgl with average water level of 7.18 mbgl. In semiconfined aquifer, the
maximum water level is 7.0 mbgl; the average water level is 28.50 mbgl.

Table 5A: Phreatic aquifer Depth to Water Level in mbgl (Pre-monsoon)

Phreatic Aquifer
Block Name
Min Max Avg
Ambikapur 3.7 9.9 7.18

Table 5B: Semiconfined Aquifer Depth to Water Level in mbgl (Pre-monsoon)

Semiconfined Aquifer
Block Name
Min Max Avg
Ambikapur 7.0 28.50 15.95

(ii) Post- monsoon water level: In the post-monsoon period, it has been observed that the
water level varies from 1.06 to 6.0 mbgl with an average of 3.61 mbgl in phreatic aquifer. In
semiconfined/fractured formation, the post monsoon water level variation range is 2.75 to
20.50 mbgl with average of 8.59 mbgl.

Table 5C: Phreatic Aquifer Depth to Water Level in mbgl (Post-monsoon)

Phreatic Aquifer
Block Name
Min Max Avg
Ambikapur 1.06 6.0 3.61

Table 5D: Semiconfined Aquifer Depth to Water Level in mbgl (Post-monsoon)

Semiconfined Aquifer
Block Name
Min Max Avg
Ambikapur 2.75 20.50 8.59

7
(iii) Seasonal water level fluctuation: The water level fluctuation data indicates that in
Ambikapur block, water level fluctuation in phreatic aquifer varies from 0.8 to 6.94 m with an
average fluctuation of 3.57 m. Water level fluctuation in semiconfined Aquifer varies from 2.0
to 10.80 m with an average fluctuation of 7.35 m.

Table 5E: Phreatic Aquifer Depth to Water Level Fluctuation (meter)

Phreatic Aquifer
Block Name
Min Max Avg
Ambikapur 0.8 6.94 3.57

Table 5F: Semiconfined Aquifer Depth to Water Level Fluctuation (meter)

Block Name Semiconfined Aquifer
Min Max Avg
Ambikapur 2.0 10.80 7.35

8
Figure 4 Depth to water level map Phreatic Aquifer (Pre-monsoon)

9
Figure 5 Depth to water level map Phreatic Aquifer (Post-monsoon)

10
Figure 6 Depth to water level fluctuation map of Phreatic Aquifer

11
Figure 7 Depth to water level map Semiconfined Aquifer (Pre-monsoon)

12
Figure 8 Depth to water level map Semiconfined Aquifer (Post-monsoon)
13
Figure 9 Depth to water level fluctuation map of Semiconfined Aquifer

14
(iv) The long term water level trend: There is no significant decline in water level in pre and post
monsoon period in all observed NHS networks.

Figure 10 a: Hydrograph of Darima village, Ambikapur block

Figure 10 b: Hydrograph of Ambikapur town, Ambikapur block

15
 2. Aquifer Disposition:

Number of Aquifers: There are two major aquifer system viz. Granite Aquifer system
and Sandstone Aquifer system. Both the aquifer system has the shallow aquifer and deeper
aquifer which occurs in phreatic and semiconfined condition respectively.

3-d aquifer disposition and basic characteristics of each aquifer:

Sandstone Aquifer System:

After studying the exploratory well details in Sandstone aquifer system, it has been envisaged
that Gondwanas rock comprise thick beds of sandstone, shale’s, clays and coal seams.
Sandstones having felsdpathic composition and medium to coarse grained, it is then porous and
permeable and forms good aquifers. Sandstone having siliceous matrix behave like impervious
hard rocks. Shales are fine grained, compact and though porous lack in permeability and so do
not form good aquifers. Among Gondwana formation the Barakar and Suprabarakar sandstones
are the most important water bearing formations. These sandstones are medium to coarse-
grained felsdpathic and highly porous and permeable. The intergranular pore spaces, joints and
fractures control ground water movement in them. Shale beds behave as confining layers and
help to form different aquifer systems. The ground water occurs under phreatic, semi confined
and confined conditions. Talchir sandstone which is very fine- grained and compact yield
comparatively less ground water.
The average thickness of the weathered portion is around 21 m. In general, the discharge varies
from meagre to 12.5 lps with an average yield of 4.33 lps. The average drawdown of the
formation is around 26 m. Rotary drilling technique is preferred in sandstone aquifer where
well construction is required depending upon the water zone and formation encountered.
Water zone has been encountered up to 200 meters. Transmissivity range observed is 3.74 to
159.1 sq. meter/day. Details of the aquifer characteristics and water zone encountered are
shown in annexure.

Granite Aquifer System:

Groundwater occurrence is largely limited to secondary permeability, such as weathered zones,
joints, fractures or faults. The potential of weathered zones depends on the degree and depth
of weathering and associated fracturing, and the saturated thickness. The aquifers are generally
discontinuous, and often confined. Higher yields are obtained where thick weathered zones are
associated with bedrock fracturing.
The average thickness of the weathered portion in the area is around 20 m. In general, the
discharge varies from meagre to 5.5 lps. The average drawdown of the formation is around 29
m. DTH drilling technique is preferred in Granite aquifer where well construction is required
depending upon the thickness of weathered zone. Water zone has been encountered up to 158
mbgl in the formation. Transmissivity range observed is upto 18.72 sq meter/day.

16
Figure 11: Aquifer map of Ambikapur block

17
Figure-12, Disposition of Aquifer, Ambikapur Block

18
 3. Ground water Resource, extraction, contamination and other issues:

Aquifer wise resource availability and extraction: Resource availability of Ambikapur block is
given in the table -4 where net ground water availability for future use is 3735.57 ham. The
extraction details and the future scenario (2025) along with the categorisation are also depicted
in the table-4.

Table 7 Categorization of Assessment Unit

District Block Stage of Ground water Categorisation

development (%)
Ambikapur Ambikapur 54.14 Safe

Categorisation: Ambikapur block falls in safe category. The stage of Ground water development
is 54.14 %. The Net Ground water availability is 6651.02 ham. The Ground water draft for all uses
is 4529.42Ham. The Ground water resource for future uses for Ambikapur Block is 3735.57 Ham.

Chemical Quality of Ground water and Contamination: Throughout the study area, the water
samples from both dugwell and handpumps were collected and chemical analysis has been
completed (Annexure I). Several villages like Katkalo have more Iron concentration.
Overall ground water of the study area is suitable for the drinking, agriculture and industrial
purpose. In Ambikapur at 35 villages Fluoride contamination and at 54 villages Iron
contamination reported. (Source: https://ejalshakti.gov.in/IMISReports/MIS.html)

4. Ground Water Resource enhancement:

Aquifer wise space available for recharge and proposed interventions:

Table -8: Summarised detail of Volume of porous space available for recharge

Area
Identified Volume of vadose zone
Major Sp. Yield for the Sub surface storage
for Artificial available for
Aquifer formation potential (mcm)
Recharge recharge(mcm)
(Sq. Km)
Sandstone 492
109.30 0.02 9.837
(Gondwana)

19
5. Issues:
(i) During summer, dugwells in villages becomes dry at many locations. Several
handpumps also stop yielding water. The aquifer itself is a low yielding one.
(ii) In Granite aquifer system potential zone for ground water is related with occurrence
of fracture, so drilling a high yield well is always a challenge. Proper scientific study
coupled with geophysical investigation may minimize the failure of well.
(iii) Problems in Tube well / Bore well construction in Sandstone Aquifer System: In case
of filter point wells drilled with hand bores, the depth of penetration is variable and
whenever the Shale or any other compact layers are encountered, further drilling
becomes difficult. When portable rotary rigs are deployed for drilling, the drilling
operations become very slow and the pore spaces in fine grained layers are invaded
by drilling fluid as a result the discharges tend to be poor. Proper well development
is seldom carried out by private drillers and as a result fine sands get deposited in
the bore. Sometimes caving of wells are commonly reported particularly when the
top loss sand is cased and the bottom shales are drilled with down the hole hammer
rig.
(iv) Problems in ring well construction Sandstone Aquifer System: The common problem
is sand filling inside the rings during and after the lowering of rings, thereby
practically eliminating the change of deepening of wells to tap more saturated
column in summer months. The weep holes provided in the rings allow water with
fine sands and gets filled up as and when sand removal is in progress thereby making
it difficult for lowering of rings is highly saturated sands.
(v) High value of Fluoride and Iron has been reported from several locations.

6. Management Plan:
(i) It has been observed during fieldwork, there is colossal wastage of groundwater
through private well and public water supply system. So, Information, Education and
Communication (IEC) activities need to be organized to sensitize people on the
issues of depleting groundwater resource. Massive awareness campaigns are
essential to aware people about the importance of community participation in
saving water.
(ii) Desiltation of existing Tanks and Talabs to be carried out for efficient storage of
rainwater. Also Rain water harvesting structures may be constructed in villages to
reduce stress on groundwater.
(iii) It has been observed that the demand of ground water is increasing for irrigation,
industrial and domestic uses. At locations where water level is declining, we have to
go for artificial recharge on a long-term sustainability basis. Artificial Recharge
structures may be constructed at suitable locations especially in the areas where the
water level remains more than 3m in the post-monsoon period in this block to arrest
the huge non-committed run-off and augment the ground water storage in the area.
The different types of artificial structures feasible in the block are described in table-
9.

20
 Table-9: Types of Artificial Recharge structures feasible
Name of Block Area Feasible Volume of Sub Types of Structures Feasible and their Numbers
for recharge Surface Potential for
(sq.km) Artificial recharge Percolation Nalas Gravity head Gully
(MCM) tank bunding /Dug well/ plugs
cement tube Gabion
plug/ well/Recharge structures
check dam shaft

Ambikapur 109.30 6.518 19 28 121 62

Recharge Capacity 0.2192 0.0326 0.00816 0.0073

(MCM)/structure

(iv) Fluoride and Iron filter plant may be installed in the villages having higher value of
contaminants.
(v) In urban areas STP may be installed for the treatment of sewage water in proper
numbers to avoid contamination of ground water. Treatment of sewage water in
village through soak pit for the individual houses and Seechewal model or similar
model for community level may be adopted to avoid contamination of ground
water. Treated water may also be reused for irrigation and other industrial
purposes.
(vi) Since the stage of development in the block is 54.14 %. There is scope of utilizing
more ground water for future irrigation purpose. Additional number of Ground
water abstraction structure may be developed for the effective utilization of ground
water resources in the block. The ground water is presently developed through dug
wells and tube wells. Yield potential for the block has been shown in Aquifer map
(fig 11). Sites for wells need to be selected only after proper scientific investigation.
The ground water quality also needs to be ascertained and the wells used for water
supply should be first checked for Iron, Fluoride and other pollutants.

Table 10: Potential of Additional GW abstraction structure creation

Net Stage of Present Ground Surplus ground Number of TW Number of DW

Groundwater ground ground water draft water at Recommended in each Recommended in
availability water water at 70% stage present Stage of block (Assuming unit each block (Assuming
(ham) Developm draft of Development draft as 1.6 unit draft as 0.72
ent (%) (Ham) developmen (ham) ham/structure/year) ham/structure/year)
t (ham)
8366.71 54.14 4529.42 5856.70 1327.28 498 737

21
 7. Conclusion:
For effective utilization of Ground water existing draft for irrigation may be coupled with
micro irrigation system. Change in irrigation pattern, optimum use of available resource, use
of ground water potential created after artificial recharge can lead to groundwater savings
and increase in gross cropped area of the block (Table: 11).

Table 11: Detail of groundwater saved through change in cropping pattern and other
interventions

Block Existing Additional GW Development Additional Additional Percent

Gross Saving of Potential by new GW GW Irrigation increase
Ground GW after created abstraction irrigation potential in Crop
Water using Micro after structure Potential creation for area
Draft for Irrigation Artificial created in Maize/ compare
Irrigation methods in recharge Ham wheat in to Gross
in Ham Ham structure winter cropped
(Assuming in Ham season in Ha area
30 % (Assuming
saving) 500 mm
water
requirement)
Ambikapur 3793.42 1138.03 651.76 1327.28 3449.01 6898.012 19.65%

22