Samanpreet KaurManisha Kumari2023-12-112023-12-112023Manisha Kumari (2023). Delineation of potential groundwater recharge zones in Sirhind canal tract of Punjab (Unpublished M.Tech. thesis). Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.https://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810202578Groundwater depletion is a global issue. Serious efforts are required for its judicious management, enhancement and development. The purpose of the present study was to delineate potential groundwater recharge zones in the Sirhind canal tract of Punjab using geospatial technology. Different thematic layers, viz., geology, rainfall, slope, land use/land cover, soil, geomorphology, lineament density, drainage density, hydraulic conductivity, specific yield, groundwater level, lithology and depth of first aquifer were prepared and integrated using MCDM approach. Weighted overlay analysis was carried out to give rank to each parameter. The normalized weights was assigned for each thematic layer depending on the AHP technique. The groundwater potential zones have been classified into five categories viz., very low, low, medium, high and very high. It is found that 5.01 %, 15.38 %, 16.43 %, 31.05 % and 32.13 % of the area of the tract was in very low, low, medium, high and very high potential recharge zones respectively. Sensitivity analysis indicated that of all the thematic maps, delineation of potential recharge zones was more sensitive to the groundwater level, depth of first aquifer, soil, geomorphology, rainfall, land use land cover, lineament density, hydraulic conductivity, geology and specific yield. The result has also been validated by yield data collected from existing sources and it confirms that the higher yield categories (16 to 55 l/s) were falling within excellent groundwater potential zones and lower yield ranging from (8.1 to 13 l/s) were falling within poor groundwater potential zones.EnglishThesis