AHP-GIS Based DRASTIC Model for Groundwater Vulnerability to Pollution Assessment: A Case Study of Hazaribag District, Jharkhand, India

摘要

Groundwater pollution due to anthropogenic activities is one of the most serious environmental problems in urban/industrial areas. Groundwater is one of the main sources of drinking water in Hazaribag District and hence its vulnerability assessment to delineate areas that are more susceptible to contamination is very important. The present study aims to demonstrate AHP-GIS based DRASTIC model to estimate the relative probability of contamination of the groundwater resources in the selected study area.The study result reveals that the vulnerability index varying from 4.53 to 9.47 (Scale: Minimum possible Index- 1.00 and Maximum possible index- 9.84). The range of the vulnerability index has been classified into five classes (low, moderately low, moderate, moderately high, and high) and accordingly the whole study area is classified into five types of zones on the basis of vulnerability index. The study results delineate areas that are more susceptible to contamination due to the existing hydro-geologic factors and show areas of greatest potential for groundwater contamination.