Impact of Urbanization on Groundwater in Changing Climatic Scenario: A Case Study

The world is facing rapid urbanization in various aspects. It is predicted that India will have 50% of its population in urban centers by the end of 2030. Thus, understanding the urban characteristic to cope with reducing natural resources has produced a huge challenge. Groundwater, the primary drinking water source in many Indian cities, has faced a crisis of over-extraction and quality deterioration. Changing climatic condition has further added to the complexities of the urban hydrogeological condition. The present study is about two locations in the National Capital Region (NCR). In Haryana, Faridabad, one of the important urban centers of NCR, has witnessed a 32.5% decadal increase in population and rapid urbanization due to a considerable number of migrants. Manesar, one of the industrial townships of the NCR, has also witnessed intense urbanization due to industrial growth and migration. The average temperature of the area has increased by 2° with a corresponding increase in rainfall intensity along with a reduction in rainy days while maintaining the overall average rainfall of the area. The urbanization and associated industrialization resulted in groundwater level depletion at 0.7 m/year in parts of Faridabad and Manesar area and categorized as overexploited. The average groundwater electrical conductivity (EC) has increased. The impact also includes land subsidence in a few patches. The climate change-induced increased rainfall intensity and simultaneous urbanization have resulted in a reduction in infiltration. This has been further added by intensive extraction of groundwater to meet the essential requirements of the growing population. The chapter has discussed in depth the change in short-duration morpho-hydrogeological conditions due to overgrowth in the urban and industrial township.