EFFECT OF EARTHQUAKE ON DOMESTIC WATER SUPPLY IN KUTCH REGION ( GUJARAT )

A severe earthquake occurred on the 26th January, 2001 in the Kutch region of Gujarat (India). Along with the other civil engineering structures, dams were also damaged. Most of these dams are earthen dams. Drinking water storage will be severely affected in the summer due to this. The paper attempts to discuss the effect of earthquake on few such dams and its subsequent effect on the drinking water supply. Amongst the most affected dams are Rudramata, Tappar, Shivlakha, Suvi, Fatehgadh, Chang and Kaswati, which are domestic water storage as well as irrigation schemes. Rudramata and Tappar have been repaired while others had to be cut due to inability to repair due to short time period. The top soil layer around the reservoirs of these dams contain fine sand. Due to the high permeability of these soils, substantial ground water recharge takes place resulting into the rise of ground water table in the surrounding areas. Many of the villages depend upon ground water for their domestic demands. So, the villages around the dams which have been cut will be seriously affected for their domestic water requirement, in the coming summer while the areas around Rudramata and Tappar will have sufficient recharge for ground water as wellas storage for surface supply