AQUIFER MAPPING AND MANAGEMENT PLAN OF WAYANAD DISTRICT, KERALA
Category |
Aquifer Mapping |
State |
Kerala
|
District |
Wayanad |
Block |
Kalpetta Mananthavady Panamaram Sulthan Bathery |
Year of Issue |
2022 |
Number of Authors |
1 |
Name of Authors |
SREEHARI SARANGAN M S |
Keywords |
NAQUIM Report, Data analysis and generation gap, Climate Rainfall, Irrigation Agriculture, Geology Geomorphology, Hydrogeology Drainage, Ground water Dynamic, Ground Water Quality, Aquifer Disposition. Aquifer Characteristics, Ground Water Resource, Ground water Related Issues, Management Strategies, |
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In Wayanad district, agriculture has always been climate dependent and even small changes in soil temperature and moisture levels can adversely affect the yield. Wayanad had bestowed with plenty of water earlier and the main agriculture was paddy and now the area is facing drought due to change in rainfall pattern due to climate change, deforestation and large-scale conversion of paddy fields into plantations. The climate and related environment are influenced by the geomorpho-logical settings. The Wayanad district, famous for its agricultural traditions and bio diversity is greatly endangered today. The present scenario needs to be improved by adopting prac-tices like afforestation, protection of paddy fields, conservation of water resources and artifi-cial recharge to groundwater. Moreover, the impact of climatic changes on agriculture af-fects the livelihood of people in this district which has the highest percentage of tribal popu-lation. Wayanad district can be divided into three physiographic zones- Wayanad plateau (WP), Central Sahyadri High Land (CH) and Mountainous Regions of Central Sahyadri (MR) as per Soil Survey Organisation. On the basis of topographic features, the area can be divided into different physiographic zones like high ranges with rugged topography, high ranges with moderately rugged topography, intermontane valley and flood plains. There is absolutely no low and mid lands in Wayanad district as in the case of other districts in Kerala. High ranges with rugged topography include hill ranges in the west (Kalpetta and Mananthavady blocks) northwest and southwestern part of Wayanad district and elevation ranges from 1400 to 2100 m amsl. This area is occupied by dense mixed jungles with steep slopes and narrow val-leys.Hill ranges along the eastern part and isolated hills come under high ranges with moder-ately rugged topography (Sulthan Bathery and Mananthavady blocks). The altitude of the physiographic zone ranges between 1000 and 1400 m amsl having moderate slope. Intermon-tane valleys are the valleys between high ranges. These areas are occupied by colluvium formed by depositional processes. Erosional intermontane valleys are also seen. Kabani River is the major river in the district which is one of the three east flowing rivers in Kerala and is an important tributary of Cauvery. The total drainage of the Kabani river in the district is 1974 sq. km. Almost the entire Wayanad district is drained by Kabani and its three main tributaries viz. Panamaram, Mananthawady and Tirunelli. Other tributaries include Bavelipuzha and Noolpuzha. Kabani and its tributaries are mainly responsible for the present landscape of Wayanad district. Kabani river has dendritic drainage pattern and struc-turally controlled. Other drainages in Wayanad district are Chaliyar in the southwest and Valapattanam (Mahe river) in the northwest side of the district. Major part of the study area is underlain by the crystalline rocks of Archaean age. Geological for-mations occurred in the area are gneisses, charnockite, granite, intrusives viz. gabbro and dio-rite, laterite and riverine alluvium. The hill district of Wayanad is covered mainly by Peninsu-lar Shield of Western Ghats and forms the tri junction of Charnockites of Western Ghats, Nilagiri Ranges and southward extension of Dharwars of Karnataka. Major rock groups of the district are Wayanad Supracrustals, Gneisses, Charnockite, Basic and Acidic intrusives. The rock types under wayanad supracrustals are Pyroxenite, Amphibolite, Pyroxene granu-lite, Talc-tremolite-