RATLAM DISTRICT

MADHYA PRADESH

Ministry of Water Resources

Central Ground Water Board
North Central Region
Government of India
BHOPAL
2013

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 RATLAM DISTRICT AT A GLANCE
S.No. Items Statistics
1. General Information
i) Geographical area 486100 Ha
ii) Administrative Divisions (As on 2013)
Number of Tehsil/Blocks 6/6
Number of Villages 1086
iii) Population (Census 2011) 1,454,483
iv) Normal Rainfall 992.90 mm
2. Geomorphology
1. Major Physiographic Units: 1. i. Malwa plateau in east
2. ii. Plateau of Sailana
3. iii. Western hills of Sailana
4. iv. Chambal valley
5. v. Mahi valley
2. Major Drainage: 6. I. Ganga Basin (Chambal Sub
Basin)
7. II. Mahi Basin
3. Land Use Ha (‘000)
a) Forest area 34.30
b) Net area sown 333
c) Gross cropped area 500
4. Major Soil Types Sandy and black cotton soil.
5. Principal Crops Soyabean, wheat, maize,
cotton, opium, gram.
6. Irrigation by Different Sources No. Area irrigated Ha(‘000)
Dug wells 52213 32.67
Tube wells/Bore wells 18801 51.98
Tanks/Ponds 144 1.48
Canals 41 1.39
Other Sources - 4.79
7. Number 0f Ground Water Monitoring Wells
of CGWB (As on 31.3.2013)
Number of Dug Wells 24
Number of Piezometers 28
8 Predominant Geological Formations Alluvium, Deccan Trap basalts,
Vindhyan shales and sandstone
9 Hydrogeology

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 Major Water Bearing Formation Sandy alluvium,
Weathered/vesicular basalt, flow
contacts and fractured
sandstone.
Pre-monsoon depth to water level range 2.70 to 23.40 m bgl
during 2012
Post-monsoon depth to water level range 1.48 to 14.28 m bgl
during 2012
Long-term water level trend in 10 years Pre monsoon
(2003-2012) Rise: 6.20 – 10.74 cm/yr
Fall : 3.64 – 30.90 cm/yr
Post monsoon
Rise: 11.82 cm/yr
Fall : 2.00 – 36.44 cm/yr
10. Ground Water Exploration By CGWB (As on 31.3.2013)
No of wells drilled (EW, OW, PZ, Total) EW-23, OW-17, PZ-37
Depth Range 32.64 to 203.45 m. bgl
Discharge Meager to 20.0 lps
Specific Capacity -
Transmissivity -
11. Ground Water Quality
Presence of Chemical constituents EC 530 – 3688 µs/cm at 250C
NO3 15 – 474 mg/l
F 0.4 – 1.27 mg/l
12 Dynamic Ground Water Resources Ham
(2009)
Net Ground Water Availability 66638
Existing Gross Ground Water Draft 83748
Projected Demand for Domestic and 2682
Industrial uses up to next 25 years
Stage of Ground Water Development 126 %
13 Awareness and Training Activity
Mass Awareness Programme Organised Two MAP
Dated: 05.02.2002 and
Dated: 30.11.2004
Number of Participant 75 and 112
15 Ground Water Control and Regulation
Number of Over-Exploited Blocks 4
Number of Semi Critical Blocks 1
Number of Safe Blocks 1
Number of Notified Blocks 1 (Jaora)
16 Major Groundwater Problems and Nitrate and chloride pollution at
Issues industrial areas in Ratlam City

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

Ratlam district is located on northwest part of Madhya Pradesh. It is one of the

important tribal district of Malwa regions of Madhya Pradesh. Sailana and Bajna
blocks are major tribal blocks. The district is bounded by Mandsaur district in the
north, Jhabua and Dhar district in the south, Ujjain and Shajapur districts in the east,
Banswara district of Rajasthan state in the west and Jhalawar district of Rajasthan
state in the northeast. The district area extends between the parallels of latitude 23 0
05' and 230 52' North and between the meridians of longitude 740 31' and 740 41'
East, and it is falling in the Survey of India Topo Sheet No. 46I and 46M.

The total geographical area of the district is 4,861 Sq.Km, with a population of
14,54,483 according to census 2011. The details of administrative units are given in
table.

Table: Administrative units of Ratlam district, Madhya Pradesh

S.No Tehsil Block Area in Sq No. of Villages No. of Villages

Km Panchayats
1 Alot Alot 945 191 90
2 Jaora Jaora 763 145 68
3 Piploda Piploda 604 90 52
4 Ratlam Ratlam 1331 169 97
5 Sailana Sailana 536 238 47
6 Bajna Bajna 682 220 65
District 4,861 1086 419

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Drainage
Ratlam district falls under Ganga and Mahi river basins. The tributaries of
Chambal River drain about 70 % geographical area of the district. Southwest part of
the district is drained by the Mahi River and it tributaries. The type of drainage in
general is dendritic developed on Deccan Trap basaltic rocks. The Chambal River
flows in the northeast part of the district. The important tributaries of Chambal River in
the district are Kshipra, Maleni and Pingla rivers. The Mahi River flows in the
southwest part of the district. The Mahi River is a consequent river, which originate
from Dhar district. The main tributaries of the Mahi River are Bageri, Jammer, Karan,
Pundia, Bunad Pampavati and Telni.

Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) activities

 S/Shri P. K. Sahajpal Jr. Hydrogeologist, Gautam Sen Asst. Hydrogeologist

and A .K. Murdia Asst. Hydrogeologist conducted systematic hydrogeological
surveys in Ratlam district during 1986-91.

 S/Shri Saurabh Gupta Jr. Hydrogeologist and S. N. Bangar Asst.

Hydrogeologist conducted Reappraisal Hydrogeological surveys in Ratlam
district during 1996-97.

 Shri M. L. Parmar Jr. Hydrogeologist conducted exploratory drilling in the

Ratlam district during the year 2003-2005. During the exploration period 24
exploratory well, 15 observation well and 3 piezometers were constructed.

 Under the World Bank assisted Hydrology Project 7 shallow piezometer and
11 deep piezometers had been constructed.

2.0 RAINFALL AND CLIMATE

A hot summer and general dryness characterize the climate of Ratlam district,
except during the southwest monsoon season. The year can be divided in to four
seasons. The winter commences from middle of November and lasts till the end of
February. The period from March to about middle of June is the hot summer season.
May is the hottest month of the year. The southwest monsoon starts from middle of
June and lasts till end of September. October and middle of November constitute the
post monsoon or retreating monsoon season. Nearest observatory is located at
Ratlam, hence metrological parameters of Ratlam are used for analysis.

The temperature starts rising from the beginning of February and reaching
maximum in the month of May. The normal annual mean maximum temperature is
32.20C and normal annual mean minimum temperature is 18.8 0C.The individual day
maximum temperature in May goes up to 39.7 0C. The wind velocity is high during the
pre monsoon period as compared to post monsoon period. The wind velocity is
highest in June around 14.1 km/hr and lowest is 6.0 km/hr in October. The average
normal annual wind velocity of Ratlam district is 9.0 km/hr.
The normal annual rainfall of Ratlam district is 992.90mm. Ratlam district
receive maximum rainfall during southwest monsoon period i.e. June to November.
About 92.8% of annual rainfall is received during monsoon season.

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3.0 GEOMORPHOLOGY AND SOIL TYPES

3.1 Geomorphology

The whole Ratlam district lies on Malwa plateau. The general scene is of
undulating country sloping towards north and marked by series of high hills and
valleys. There are isolated hills and attain prominence in the southeast of the district
and near the western margins of the plateau. In the west hills are dissected and
slopes into the narrow valleys of seasonal steams of Mahi. Geomorphology of
Ratlam district can be divided into five divisions.
1. The Malwa plateau in the east
2. The plateau of Sailana
3. The western hills of Sailana
4. The Chambal valley
5. The Mahi valley
In general, Ratlam district is characterized by hilly to undulating terrain with
altitude ranging between 434 m and 549 m above mean sea level. The highest
elevation in the district is 639.7 m above mean sea level near Sakraoda in Sailana
block and lowest elevation of the district is 305 m above mean sea level at village
Chandragarh in Sailana block.

3.2 Soils

Two types of rocks, sedimentary and basaltic rocks, mainly cover the district.
The nature and characterizations of the soil is dependent on type of lithology in the
area. Hence the soil of the district has been classified into two groups.

1.0 Soils of sedimentary rocks

2.0 Solis of basaltic rocks

Soils of sedimentary rocks are found in western parts of the district mainly in
Sailana tehsil where the land is occupied by numerous hills of Vindhyans rocks and
the soil are sandy in nature and having reddish and brown colour. Soils of basalt are
occurring in major parts of the district covering Ratlam, Jaora, Alot and Piploda
blocks. It is generally known as black cotton soil, fertile in nature and suitable for
cotton crops.

4.0 GROUNDWATER SCENARIO

4.1 Hydrogeology

Geologically almost entire Ratlam district is occupied by Deccan Trap basalts

except narrow patch of alluvium and sedimentary rocks of Vindhyans super group in
isolated patches, which are forming different type of aquifer in the area. Occurrence
and movement of groundwater in hard rock is mainly controlled by secondary porosity
through joints and fractures. Presences of vesicle in basaltic lava flow of Deccan
Traps play an important role in groundwater movement. Groundwater in general
occurs under unconfined to semi-confined conditions. The general hydrogeological

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conditions of the district are depicted in figure -2 and formation wise settings are
discussed below.

4.1.1 Vindhyans

The hillocks of Vindhyans sandstone occur as inlier in northwest and northern

block of Piploda, Alot town, Dhodhar and Pingrala village. The sandstone is quartzitic
in nature and very hard and compact. At shallow depth the sandstone forms poor
aquifer system. Yield of Vindhyans sandstone formation is generally less than 2 litres
per second.

4.1.2 Basalts

The basalts underlie a major part of the district and generally groundwater
occurs under phreatic conditions in shallow weathered, jointed and fractured horizons.
Basalts does not exhibits uniform occurrence of groundwater both vertically and
latterly. Physiographic location, thickness of weathered mantle, degree of jointing,
fracture or shear zones, characteristics of vesicular horizons and their inter
connection are important factor, which play a deciding role in the yield capacity of
open wells tapping shallow aquifers. The deeper aquifer system appear to be under
unconfined to semi-confined conditions while visualizing lava flow sequence which
shows alternate units of vesicular and massive horizons. The hydrogeological regime
in different tires, deeper aquifer is more likely to be governed by the secondary
porosity jointed/fractured form of massive units is creating possibilities of their acting
as leaky confining bed consequently resulting into semi-confined condition for water

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bearing vesicular units occurring below it. Yield of basalts in this is reported low to
moderates (1 to 5 lps), but at some locations it is 11 lps (Vinoba Nagar), 12 lps
(Rajakhedi) and 20 lps at Namli.

4.1.3 Alluvium

The alluvium deposits are restricted to narrow linear along the river courses of
Chambal, Kshipra, Maleni and Mahi. The thickness of alluvium varies from 12 to 15
meters, which is proportionately thinning away from the river line. The thickness of
alluvium along the Kurel River reported about 20 meter near Rajhumgarh. The
alluvium deposits consist series of consolidated, fine to medium grained sand admix
in varying proportion and yield varies from 1 to 8 lps.

4.2 Groundwater Levels

Variation of groundwater levels in an area is an important component of

hydrological cycle because it is a physical reflection of aquifer systems. As the
change in groundwater level is directly related to groundwater balance and its
continuous records provide direct information of subsurface geo-environmental
changes due to withdrawal of groundwater. To monitor the seasonal and annual
change in quantity and quality of groundwater, CGWB has established 15
Groundwater Monitoring Wells and 21 Piezometers in entire Ratlam district. The
monitoring of groundwater levels in these wells is being carried out by CGWB during
the month of May, August, November and January. High frequency Groundwater
level monitoring is being carried out at Ratlam, Dhodhar and Jaora deep piezometer
using Automatic Water Level Recorders. The brief details of groundwater level in
Ratlam district for the year 2006 are being discussed below:

4.2.1 Pre-monsoon (May 2012)

In pre-monsoon
period, depth to water level
ranges between 2.70 m bgl
to 23.40 m bgl. The most
part of the district have
water level in the range of 8-
16.

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4.2.2 Post-monsoon (November 2012)
During post-monsoon
period, the water level ranges
from 1.48 m bgl to 14.28 m bgl. It
is observed that in most part of
the district the water level lies
between 5 to 10.

4.2.3 Groundwater level trend (May2003 to May 2012)

Analyses of Groundwater level data of pre-monsoon period indicate that there
is rise as well as decline in water level in the district. In general, rise in water level is
in the range of 0.06 to 0.1 m/year whereas decline is in the range of 0.03 to 0.36 m/yr.

4.4 Aquifer Parameters

Central Ground Water Board has drilled 23 exploratory wells, 17 observation
wells and 37 piezometers in the Ratlam district. Under the World Bank assisted
Hydrology Project 7 shallow and 11 deep piezometers have been drilled for
monitoring of groundwater levels in entire district. It is inferred from the exploratory
data that the yields of Deccan Trap basalt formation vary from 1 to 20 lps and draw
down ranges between 1 to 61 m.

4.5 Groundwater Resources (2009)

Ratlam district is underlain by Basaltic lava flows of Deccan trap. Dynamic

ground water resources of the district have been estimated for base year -2008/09 on
block-wise basis (Table). There are seven assessment units (block) in the district
which fall under non-command (98 %) and command (2.% Bajna block) sub units.
Alote, Jaora, Piploda and Ratalam blocks of the district are categorized as over
exploited and Sailana as semi critical. The highest stage of ground water
development is computed as 171 % in Piploda block. The net ground water
availability in the district 66,638 ham and ground water draft for all uses is 83,748
ham, making stage of ground water development 126 % (117 % in 2003/04) as a
whole for district. After making allocation for future domestic and industrial supply for
next 25 years, balance available ground water for future irrigation would be negative .

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 Table: Groundwater availability and stage of development
DYNAMIC GROUND WATER RESOURCES (As on March, 2009)
S. No. District/ Sub-unit Net Annual Existing Existing Existing Provision Net Ground Stage of Category
Assessment Command/ Ground Gross Gross Gross for water Ground
Unit Non- water Ground Ground Ground domestic, Availability water
Command/ Availability water water water and for future Development
(ham) Draft for Draft for Draft industrial irrigation d (%)
Irrigation Domestic for All requirement development
(ham) & uses supply to (ham)
Industrial (ham) next 25 year
water (2033)
Supply (ham)
(ham)
Command
Over
1 Alote Non-Command 12596 14222 388 14609 388 -2013 116
Exploited
Over
Block Total 12596 14222 388 14609 389 -2014 116
Exploited
Command 882 77 39 116 44 760 13 Safe
2 Bajna Non-Command 3044 1841 333 2174 747 455 71 Safe
Block Total 3926 1919 372 2291 792 1215 58 Safe
Command
Over
3 Jaora Non-Command 15506 25533 363 25896 363 -10390 167
Exploited
Over
Block Total 15506 25533 363 25896 363 -10390 167
Exploited
Command
Over
4 Piploda Non-Command 9796 16482 298 16780 298 -6984 171
Exploited
Over
Block Total 9796 16482 298 16780 298 -6984 171
Exploited
Command
Over
5 Ratlam Non-Command 19957 20092 596 20688 596 -731 104
Exploited
Over
Block Total 19957 20092 596 20688 596 -731 104
Exploited
Command
Semi-
6 Sailana Non-Command 4857 3239 245 3484 245 1373 72
Critical
Semi-
Block Total 4857 3239 245 3484 245 1373 72
Critical
District Total 66638 81486 2262 83748 2682 -17531 126

4.6 Groundwater Quality

Ground water quality in the district is accessed annually by CGWB on the
basis of water samples collected from hydrograph stations in the district.
Groundwater in the district is generally fresh to saline as electric conductivity values
varies between 530 to 3688 μs/cm at 25° C. Fluoride in the district ranges from 0.4 to
1.27 mg/l and the nitrate concentration ranges from 15 to 474 mg/l.

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