Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2020) 9(2): 1829-1841 1829 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2020.902.209 Delineation of Groundwater Potential Zones in the Middle Catchment of Mahanadi River Basin using Remote Sensing and GIS Dwarika Mohan Das 1 , Dibyarani Majhi 2* , B. C. Sahoo 2 , Subhashis Sahoo 2 , S. K. Raul 2 and B. Panigrahi 2 1 Department of Agricultural Engineering, SWCE, CAET, OUAT, India 2 Department of Soil and Water Conservation Engineering, CAET, OUAT, Bhubaneswar, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Fresh water is very crucial for all lives existing on earth; as the freshwater resource is very limited compared to the vast saline water in oceans and seas. A major share of fresh water comes from groundwater which is a significant source for human consumption, supplying nearly half of all drinking water in the world (WWAP, 2009). Need of groundwater has been increasing for running the industries, consumption in domestic uses and above all, irrigation purpose in agriculture sector. Freshness, on-site availability and lower pollution of the resource may be attributed to it. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 9 Number 2 (2020) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com Groundwater is a treasured underground resource, which plays a central role in sustainable water management. However, it being hidden and dynamic in nature, its sustainable development and management calls for precise quantification of this precious resource at an appropriate scale. Chance of getting good groundwater at shallow depths for irrigation is always considered as a blessing for the farmers. Hence, a correct estimation good groundwater potential is expected to increase the crop cover in most of the rainfed areas. In the present study, integration of remote sensing (RS), geographic information systems (GIS) and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) techniques is used for assessment and delineation of groundwater potential in Kantamal catchment of middle Mahanadi river basin. Relevant thematic layers having significant influence on groundwater occurrence viz land slope, drainage density, land use and land cover, dynamic ground water were used in this study. These thematic layers and their features were assigned suitable weights based on the conceptual frameworks of AHP. The study area has been demarcated into three groundwater zones, namely ‘good’, ‘moderate, and ‘poor’. Good, moderate and poor category occupies 9532 km 2 (51%), 10297 km 2 (47%), and 269 km 2 (2%) of the total catchment, respectively. Keywords Groundwater potential, Remote sensing, GIS, AHP Accepted: 08 January 2020 Available Online: 10 February 2020 Article Info