Union Minister Sanwar Lal Jat today made a strong pitch for having detailed understanding of groundwater prospects of palaeochannels to ensure optimum utilisation of water resources.
"Palaeochannel deposits are unconsolidated fluvial sediments, often coarse grained than adjoining flood plain deposits, and are valuable from groundwater point of view.
"...Optimum utilisation of water resources warrants detailed understanding of ground water prospects of the palaeochannels," an official statement quoted Union Minister of State for Water Resources Sanwar Lal Jat as saying.
Jat made the remarks while inaugurating day-long workshop on 'Palaeochannels - Evolution and Ground Water Prospects', organised by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) here. A palaeochannel is a remnant of an inactive river which is either filled or buried by newer sediment.
Jat noted that quality of groundwater is often better than that in the surrounding environment because of the better flushing mechanism in the system of palaeochannels due to coarser nature of sediments and fast recharge.
"Palaeochannels of Late Quaternary (0.5 to 1 million year old) period are of particular interest from groundwater point of view," he added.
The CGWB had organised the workshop, attended by experts and stakeholders from across the country, with an objective to promote wide-ranging discussions on palaeochannels of India and collate available information and research outputs.
The focal points of the deliberations were geologic/climatic/tectonic reasons for disappearance of rivers, location, alignment and geometry of palaeochannels, sedimentological characteristics, ground water prospects and recharge potentials, developing priorities for future investigation and research, the statement said.
Palaeochannels have been reported from different parts of India, covering the Indo-Gangetic plains as well as the Central and Peninsular India. Several ancient rivers, which once supported civilisation, agriculture and economic growth along its flood plains, have now turned into Palaeochannels.
"Of all the reported palaeochannels, most widely researched, investigated and discussed are those located in the western and north-western parts of India, covering the states of Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat which is often linked to erstwhile mighty river Sarasvati," the statement said.
Earlier, the CGWB had organised such workshops in Ahmadabad (in July 2015), Allahabad (October 2015) and Jodhpur (March 2016).
