Characterization of ground water quality of Rania block in Sirsa District in Haryana

Introduction

Agriculture is a leading sector in the economic growth of India and contributes 46% of the entire national product (Rehman & Hussain, 2016) [14] . Freshwater resources are extremely scarce (Qadir et al. 2007) [13] with less than 1 percent of the water on Earth suitable for human consumption (Gleick, 1996 and Alotaibi, et al., 2023) [6,2] . (Asadi et al. 2020 and Hashmi et al. 2009) [3,8] . Therefore, managing and preserving freshwater resources is crucial (FAO, 1994) [5] . In Sirsa district, agriculture largely depends upon tube wells for irrigation as the canal or seasonal rivers are as a source of water are not sufficient to meet the water requirements of crops particularly Paddy. Under these circumstances, Groundwater plays a crucial role in Indian agriculture, particularly in semi-arid regions due to the lack of surface water resources. Fifty per cent of the irrigated area is dependent on groundwater and 60% of irrigated food production is from groundwater wells (Shah et al. 2000; FAO 2003; Vasantha Vigar et al. 2012) [15,4,12] . The suitability of irrigation water depends on many factors, including the quality of water, soil type, climate, drainage characteristics of the soil, and salt tolerance characteristics of the plants (Venkateswaran and Vediappan, 2013) [19] . Groundwater always contains certain amounts of soluble salts which are dissolved in it. The solubility of these salts depend on the source of the recharge and the geological strata through which it percolates. If the salt concentration in the groundwater increases, the quality of water will deteriorate (Kumar et al. 2014) [11] . The excess quantity of soluble salts may be harmful to many crops. They can limit plant growth by restricting water uptake through modified osmotic processes and may damage plant growth through metabolic processes. Sodicity, salinity and toxicity are important factors to consider when assessing the suitability of groundwater quality for irrigation (Khodapanah et al. 2009) [10] .

International Journal of Advanced Che mis try Research 2025; 7(6): 35 -38

The present study aimed to analyse and evaluate chemical and physical parameters, including different cations, anions, water quality index, Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR), and heavy metals speciation for the Rania block of Sirsa district (Haryana). The study also attempted to focus on assessing the suitability of groundwater for agricultural purposes.

Materials and Methods

Sirsa is located in North West region of India sharing boarders with Rajasthan and Punjab. The climate of the district may be defined as semi-arid with an annual rainfall of 300 mm. Major source of irrigation in the district is groundwater which is not very good at all the locations in the distrit. The topography of the area is almost flat with a gentle slope towards southwest direction. Rania is a block situated in the western side of the district. seasonal river, Ghaggar passes through the block from eastern to western side. The soil type is sandy-loam and source of irrigation are tube-wells and rivers. (AICRP, 1989) [1] .

Results and Discussion

Water samples were analysed for pH, EC, anions, cations and subsequently RSC and SAR were calculatged.  Electircal Conductivity: In the block Rania, the values of EC at different locations ranged from 0.3 dSm -1 to 16.0 dSm -1 with mean values of 3.88 dSm -1 . The lowest EC was noted in the village Kharian whereas higher EC values were found in the village Mehna Khera. Lowest EC in the village Kharia is due to location of tubewell on the river side and higher EC in the village Mehna Khera is due to location of the sampling site away from tubewell or seasonal river. Observed that electrical conductivity in the parts of block Badagudha was comparatively lower in the parts which were lying adjoining to Ghaggar River. Out of all the samples, 44.62 per cent of the samples were in the range of 0 to 2dSm -1 , 20.66 per cent were in the range 2-4 dSm -1 , 19 per cent samples in the range 4-8 dSm -1 , 14.87 per cent samples were observed in between the range 8-12 dSm -1 where as in 10 per cent samples EC was more than 12 dSm -1 . Jakhar et al. (2017) [9] while characterising ground water samples of district Sirsa, found that 38, 28 and 25% water samples had an EC of 0. ) with a mean value of 2.3 (me l -1 ). The RSC levels lower than 1.25 (me l -1 ) are considered as safe but as the level increases it needs good irrigation management practices. Table 2 shows that mean RSC in the samples having EC range of 0-2 dSm -1 was 1.82 (me l -1 ) and in the EC range 2-4 dSm -1 , the respective RSC is 0.56 (me l -1 ). However, no RSC was noticed in EC range above 2-4 dSm -1 . Lowest RSC values were recorded in the village Bahia 0.01 (me l -1 ) and highest value was recorded in the village Abholi.  SAR: SAR is a measure of suitability of water for use in agricultural purposes. In the present study, as evident in the table 2, SAR values ranged 0.75 (m mol l -1 ) 1/2 in the EC range 0-2 dSm -1 to 49.27 (m mol l -1 ) 1/2 in the EC range more than 12 dSm -1 . The lowest SAR was found in the village Kharia and highest in the village Ghoranwali. Singh and Kumar (2023) [17] while assessing quality of underground irrigation water in western Rajasthan found that SAR of underground irrigation water was recorded from Nagaur district, 8.5 minimum and 22.7 maximum with an average value of 15.05. The mean chemical composition related to different values of quality parameters have been presented in Table 2. Of all the samples analysed, highest samples were found in the EC range 0-2 d Sm -1 whereas lowest no of samples were found where EC was more than 12.0 dSm -1 . More number of samples in the range of 0-2 dSm -1 suggests that half of samples received were suitable for all the crops depending on soil types and rainfall received. The per cent of samples in the range 2-4, 4-8 and 8-12 were 23, 20 and 5.91 per cent respectively.

Fig 2:

Water quality: mostly saline, good, and marginally saline.

Conclusion

From the study, it may be concluded that in Rania block of Sirsa district 31 per cent water was in the good category in which almost all the crops can be grown. 36 per cent water is saline which should be used in combination with canal water in cyclic mode. 19 per cent water is saline, 4 per cent water is alkali and there is need to neutralise it with gypsum application. 10 per cent of the water is marginally alkali which can cause problem in the soils where silt and loam content are more. No water was found in high alkali and high SAR saline class.

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