Inventorization of natural water springs of Ravi River catchment of Himachal Pradesh under purpose driven study of national hydrology project

Natural water springs are one of the most cost-effective ways to provide relatively pure water for about 50 million people of Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) as rivers flow in deep valleys and glaciers are far flung, making these two sources economically non-viable. However, increasing population and unplanned development have adversely affected the recharge processes and resulted in depletion of these prime water sources. Lack of primary database (inventory) is the major hurdle in the development of these water pygmies as sustainable water resources. Therefore, a purpose driven study (PDS) has been formulated to inventorize the springs of Ravi River catchment of Himachal Pradesh under the National Hydrology Project (NHP). Till date, more than 400 perennial and seasonal springs have been geo-tagged using GPS based information system comprising 20 parameters including hydrogeological, physical, social, demographical and springshed characteristics. Additionally, 14 water quality parameters viz. pH, EC, Ca⁺², NO₃⁺, SO₄⁻, F⁻, SiO₂, K⁺, Fe, Na⁺, Cl⁻, HCO₃⁻, CO⁻² and alkalinity have also been quantified. Various spatial thematic maps/layers at catchment scale have been generated from collected point information using PostGIS, which is being updated with new data regularly. Such maps have immense significance in understanding the spatial variability of different characteristics of groundwater in the catchment and will help concerned state government departments for better management and development of water resources in the catchment to fulfill local water demand. A web information system is being developed using open source technologies like Open layers, Geo-Ext, PostGIS, and PHP so that comprehensive information on springs of Ravi Catchment of Himachal Pradesh can be obtained on single click of mouse.