Groundwater is one of the world's most precious natural resources. But still now this valuable resource is largely unexploited for agricultural development in drought prone western region of West Bengal. In drought prone areas micro-watershed based development strategy may be considered as the best practice for integrated development. Keeping in view the above perspective, we select Kumari watershed of Purulia district, the westernmost and semi-arid district of West Bengal for better water resource management. Geologically the area consists of Chotanagpur granite gneiss complex while physiographically it is highly dissected pedimental landscape with lateritic upland and skeletal soil. As a result, cultivation of this area is predominantly mono-cropped and thus per hectare production is also low as compared to other regions of West Bengal. Supply of sufficient water resource in this region may offer more food security alternative to rain-fed subsistence farming. That's why the present study has been carried out to evaluate the potential zones for groundwater targeting in Kumari watershed of Purulia district using an integrated remote sensing data, Survey of India topographical sheets and field verification. Hydro-geological features (geomorphological and geological units, slope, drainage density, lineaments density etc.) that influence groundwater occurrence were extracted and integrated to evaluate the hydro-geomorphological characteristics of the study area. Thematic maps of the extracted features were prepared with the help of ERDAS Imagine 9.0 and Arc-GIS 9.3 software. Weightage values were assigned to the different parameters according to their relative importance to groundwater potentiality and integrated through Geographic Information System environment. Finally on the basis of grid-wise theme weight and class weights the groundwater potential map was prepared by overlay the thematic layers.

Estimation of flood intensity for a desired return period is of prime importance for flood management through flood plain zoning. Flood frequency analysis enables estimation of the probability of occurrence of a certain hydrological event of practical importance by fitting a probability distribution to one that is empirically obtained from recorded annual maximum discharge and/or stage data. This case study considers the use of four probability distributions, namely Gumbel's extreme value distribution (EV-I), extreme value distribution-III (EV-III), log-normal (LN) and Log-Pearson Type III (LPT-3) in flood modelling of monsoon-dominated Ajay River and illustrates the applicability of goodness of fit (GOF) and D-index tests procedures in identifying which distributional model is best for the specific data. Twenty-five years ) of existing and estimated annual peak discharge (Q max ) data have been used for analyzing the trend of flood occurrence. After identifying the best fit model, the peak gauge height data (h max ) are then analysed combining with geographic information systems (GIS) for predicting flood affected area and preparing inundation map at a specific return period (T). Results of the study showed that the LPT-3 distribution is better suited for modelling flood data for Ajay at Nutanhat in West Bengal. The computed Q max for LPT-3 distribution are slightly higher as compared to the results obtained by EV-I, EV-III and LN which are used for vulnerability assessment. The analysis also predicts that the affected area will be ranging from 235 to 290 km 2 in near future (at 25-to 200-year T). These findings provide clear picture for the pattern of hydrological fluxes and aftermath in the next decades in lower Ajay River Basin (ARB). Sustainable planning and developmental measures that consider the modelled pattern of hydrological fluxes of the study area were recommended for decision making.

Orissa, being socio-economically backward but sound in traditional culture, is one of the important states in eastern India. Out of 30 districts, nine are considered as tribal districts (according to Location Quotient value), and, of the total population (41,947,358 in 2011), a significant share (22.1%) goes to tribal people (8,145,081in 2011). They are also one of the most backward and geographically isolated communities. Their lifestyle and economy is confined to the direct utilisation of natural resources, pre-agricultural level of technology and specific indigenous type of work. Now with the emergence of industry and market economy, the age-old relationship between tribes and nature has been disturbed. Keeping this in backdrop, the present study tries to explore the changing scenario of socio-economic condition in the tribal areas of Orissa. In this regard, various socioeconomic indicators have been analysed and compared for representing district-level patterns of quality of life and finding out the variation among the primitive tribal households in the study area. In addition, Mayurbhanj has also been taken as a case study to represent the socio-economic condition and quality of life at the block level. It may be pointed out in this context that out of 30 districts in Orissa, according to Location Quotient value Mayurbhanj is the highest tribalconcentrated district. The overall objective of this study is to obtain a better understanding of the disparities and variations in socio-economic status in Orissa as well as in Mayurbhanj and also find out some remedial measures to overcome the problems to bring the primitive tribal community in the mainstream of the society. From the analysis of the health-related indicators, it is clear from the analysis that the quality of life in the district has improved remarkably over the years, but socioeconomic disparities in terms of caste and gender continue to be a major problem mostly in tribal and backward areas.

The present study is concerned with the analysis of landform characteristics of Salda River basin and its impact on agriculture land use pattern. The Salda basin is one of the sub-basins of Subarnarekha River, with diversified landscape pattern in the western part of Purulia district in West Bengal. This basin is constituted by plateaus, plains with terraces, scarps, inselbergs, which is evolved under polycyclic evolution. The development of polycyclic geomorphic processes in this basin is typified by diverse morphology and drainage, which largely influence the land use pattern in this area. These diverse landscape patterns indicate the interaction of litho-tectonic-structural and various geomorphic processes with recent human intervention. The main objectives of the present study are to analyse the landforms characteristics, correlate them with land use and identify problems as well as prospects of agricultural land utilization. The entire study is based on both primary and secondary data. Extensive field survey has been conducted to collect primary information regarding terrain characteristics, micro relief, slope characteristics, hydrological attributes, soil character, natural vegetation, environmental hazards. The Survey of India topographical sheets, meteorological data, agricultural production data, land use and land cover data have been collected for the analysis of geomorphological characteristics, land classification, and agricultural land use pattern. This study reflects the typical land characteristics of the fringe area of Chhotanagpur plateau, where some typical geomorphic attributes control the productivity of the land and also controls the socio-economic conditions of the local people. The present authors have tried to examine the typical geomorphic attributes and their effects on present productivity of the land in a micro level study, where agriculture is the main source of income.

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