Authors : Shamsuddin Shahid and Manzul Kumar Hazarika
Abstract: Groundwater is the main source of drinking in the northwestern Barind region of Bangladesh. Therefore, prevention of this resource to pollution is crucial to avoid probable health and environmental hazards. An attempt has been taken in this study to map the vulnerability of the groundwater resource to contamination based on a multi-criteria approach known as DRASTIC within a geographic information system. Seven thematic maps of DRASTIC parameters are developed from available soil, borehole litholog, groundwater fluctuations and elevation model data of the region. The maps are integrated within geographic information system to generate the maps of groundwater vulnerability to both agricultural pollutants and general pollutants. The pollution vulnerability maps are validated with existing groundwater quality data. The result shows that almost 38.1% of the area is highly vulnerable to agricultural pollutants and 29.8% to general pollutants. Some management strategies are proposed for the protection of groundwater resource from pollution.
Shamsuddin Shahid and Manzul Kumar Hazarika , 2007. Geographic Information System for the Evaluation of Groundwater Pollution Vulnerability of the Northwestern Barind Tract of Bangladesh. Environmental Research Journal, 1: 27-34.