AccScience Publishing / AJWEP / Volume 13 / Issue 3 / DOI: 10.3233/AJW-160027
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Appraisal of Physico-chemical Quality of Groundwater  in Ganga-Sone Divide Region of Bihar Using Statistical  and Multivariate Techniques

Priti Kumari1*
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1 Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi Delhi – 110007, India
AJWEP 2016, 13(3), 55–65; https://doi.org/10.3233/AJW-160027
Submitted: 14 February 2015 | Revised: 14 June 2016 | Accepted: 14 June 2016 | Published: 18 July 2016
© 2016 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
Abstract

This study examines the relationship between groundwater deterioration and agricultural development in Ganga-Sone divide region of Bihar, where agriculture is the main source of livelihood and population is completely dependent on groundwater for their basic needs. Physico-chemical properties of groundwater samples have been collected. The higher values of most of the parameters were found in the agriculturally developed areas. The statistical analysis of data suggests that most of the elements exceed the general acceptable limit and significant relationship exists among most of the parameters. This indicates the impact of excess use of chemical fertilizer/ pesticides on agricultural land. Results of analysis identified the problem areas in respect of high sodium, electrical conductivity, potassium, nitrate and fluoride.

Keywords
Groundwater
deterioration
agricultural development
land-use/cover
Ganga-Sone divide
Bihar
Conflict of interest
The authors declare they have no competing interests.
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Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, Electronic ISSN: 1875-8568 Print ISSN: 0972-9860, Published by AccScience Publishing