1Central Soil & Water Conservation Research & Training Institute, 218 - Kaulagarh, Dehradun (U.K.).
2Department of Soil Water Land Engineering and Management, Allahabad Agricultural Institute, Deemed University, Allahabad-7, U.P.
3Department of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, College of Technology, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar-263145, Dist. U.S. Nagar, (U.K).
4National Research Centre for Agroforestry, Jhansi.
Hydro-geological data along with water table and nitrate concentration were collected from 100 observation wells located in Budaun district of Uttar Pradesh in order to assess the groundwater pollution vulnerability of Budaun district lying under Gangetic alluvial plain using Bayesian model. The study area was divided into 43 nodes depending on the similar hydro-geological conditions. The Bayesian weight of evidence model was used for validating the DRASTIC (Depth of groundwater, net Recharge, Aquifer media, Soil media, Topography, Impact of vadose zone and hydraulic Conductivity) factors as tools for developing nitrate vulnerability map of the study area. The accuracy of the DRASTIC results was compared with the observed data of water quality of wells recorded across the district. Analysis revealed that out of 43 nodes, 34 were under very high vulnerable while rest 9 were accounted under high vulnerable zone. This regional scale analysis shows that the DRASTIC model has been a significant potential as a screening tool for planning and decision making in management of groundwater.
Alluvial aquifer, Baysien model, DRASTIC index, Nitrate pollution
