Evaluation Of Surface Water Quality For Irrigation Purposes In Limestone Mining Areas Of District Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India

Abstract

Agriculture is a major sector in the economic development of India, as it is the source of livelihood for majority of population. Our food supply depends on precipitation collected in an irrigation system or falling directly on a field. The availability of water for irrigation is not ideally matched to the water needs. Therefore local surface water resources such as Satluj and its tributaries, small khads and nallas are used by inhabitants of the study area for irrigation. The functioning of an ecosystem and its stability to support life forms depend, to a great extent, on the physicochemical characteristics of its water. Mining may have impact on the water resources of the surrounding areas. The water bodies, rivers, lakes, dams and estuaries are continuously subject to dynamic state of change with respect to the geological age and geochemical characteristics. Evaluation of water quality has been carried out in and around the Kashlog Limestone mine to determine the concentrations of different ions present in the surface water. Quality of surface water was evaluated for its suitability for irrigation purposes. The quality assessment was made through the estimation of various physico-chemical parameters like temperature, pH, EC, TDS, CO32-, HCO3-, Cl-, SO42-, PO43-, F-, Na+, K+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ for both pre monsoon and post monsoon season . A total of 15 surface water samples were collected from different sources of the Mining area and based on their analyses, some irrigation parameters like % Na, SAR, RSC and PI were calculated.