Hydrogeochemistry and Overall Appraisal of Groundwater Status of Taldangra Block, Bankura District, West Bengal, India

Abstract

South-western districts of the state of West Bengal, India are considered to be a significantly water-stressed area of the state because of unfavourable geological setting, subsurface lithology, soil cover and surface drainage pattern. Updated geohydrological data on micro-scale i.e., at subdivision or block-level are scanty for Bankura District, West Bengal. For the present study, a geo-hydrological survey was conducted in Taldangra block of Bankura District, West Bengal, during post and pre-monsoon session of 2017–18, to obtain an intense status on present groundwater quality of this water-stressed block. Variation of concentration of major affecting ions and spatial-temporal seasonal variations of water table elevation head and subsurface shift of predominant recharge and discharge zones of the block were demarked explaining the possible reasons. Suitability status of the groundwater for drinking, domestic and irrigation usages was also rated by the estimation of sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), soluble sodium percentage (SSP), permeability index (PI), Piper trilinear diagram.