Rock-Water Interaction and Chemical Quality Analysis of Groundwater in Hard Rock Terrain of Chamrajanagara District, Karnataka, India Using Geoinformatics

Water is the main source for domestic, engineering, industrial, agricultural and multipurpose uses which affects its supply and demand due to rapid rise in population. Occurrence and movement of groundwater are controlled by the degree of weathering, fracturing, the geomorphological set up and precipitation [1,2] Scarcity of potable drinking water is one of the major development issues in parts of many states [3] Groundwater is contaminated more by anthropogenic activities reducing its supply in the study area and posing threats to water developmental programmes. Intensive application of fertilizers, agrochemicals, sewage/drain water leakage and mining activities are noticed on major lineaments and observed to be serious threats to groundwater quality [4] The quality of groundwater is governed by the mineralogical composition of the rocks [2] Several groundwater related studies have been reported all over the world on groundwater evaluation [5,6] and groundwater quality mapping [7,8] using GIS. The geochemical characterization of groundwater in SE and NE parts of India reveals deterioration of water quality due to over-exploitation. Most of the cases, groundwater is contaminated by nitrate due to agricultural activities [9] and soil contamination due to irrigation water [10]. Mani [11] discussed about groundwater conditions in hard rock areas of Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan. Analysis of Abstract