ABSTRACT
Ground water development depends on many factors viz. availability, crop water requirement, socio-economic fabric and on the yield of the aquifers existing in that area. The yields of wells are functions of the permeability and transmissivity of aquifer encountered and varies with location, diameter and depth etc. Ground water in the area is being developed by two type of abstraction structures i.e., borewells and dugwells. However dugwells are the main ground water abstraction structures in the district. The yield of such structures varies from 20 to 380 m3/day. High yielding dugwells are generally located in weathered and fractured Basalts, fractured granites and Gondwana formations occurring in physiographic depressions.
The minor irrigation census data (2000-01) indicates that area irrigated by ground water is 914.68 sq.km., whereas surface water accounts for 341.74 sq.km. of area and net irrigated area stands at 1256.42 sq.km., Thus it is clear that ground water is the major source of irrigation as it accounts for about 73% of net irrigated area. The district had 59407 irrigation dugwells, which create an irrigation potential of 1413.71 sq.km. out of which 1236.25 sq.km. of irrigation potential is utilized. In addition of this 12.00 sq.km. of irrigation potential is utilized through 533 borewells/tubewells.
State government has drilled large number of borewells fitted with hand pumps and electric motors for rural drinking water purposes in the district. The GSDA, Government of Maharashtra till 2006-07 has constructed about 9953 borewells for rural water supply, out of which 9483 are fitted with hand pumps whereas 470 are fitted with electric pumps. The borewells have depth range of 40 to 70m with the yield range from poor to more than 10000 lph.