Evaluation of Groundwater Quality in the Vicinity of Enmakaje Grama Panchayath, Kasaragod District, Kerala: A Geospatial Analysis
摘要
The area selected for the study, the Enmakaje Grama Panchayath, falls within the northern part of Kasaragod district, Kerala. Covering a total land area of 78.23 km2, the location benefits from excellent accessibility due to a well-connected panchayath and village roads. The objective of this study is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the overall groundwater quality in the designated study region. The state of the water must be assessed in these impacted locations to determine the amount of pollution and avoid additional community damage. Monitoring water quality helps us find pollution causes, fix them, and safeguard inhabitants for decades. A thorough collection of 19 groundwater samples was methodically obtained and subjected to complete physical and chemical analysis. The controversy surrounding the aerial application of endosulfan, an organochlorine pesticide, in the cashew plantations of Enmakaje Grama Panchayat, located in Kasargod district, Kerala, has raised concerns about potential health impacts, including elevated mortality rates, increased occurrence of congenital abnormalities, and malignancies in the adjacent region. During the pre-monsoon season, groundwater levels exhibited a 2.4–19.8 m range, with an average depth of 9.65 m below the ground surface. During the post-monsoon months, water depths varied between 2 and 17.2 m, with an average depth of 8.4 m. The physico-chemical analysis of pH, Iron, Sodium, Total Alkalinity, and Total Hardness revealed higher values in the post-monsoon period, primarily attributed to increased rainfall. Notably, pH, TDS, E.C., and Salinity measurements remained within permissible limits. Simultaneously, the samples exhibited a deficiency in ions such as Magnesium, Calcium, Chloride, and Fluoride during the post-monsoon period. Sodium and Iron percentages generally fell within the excellent or good range, with only a few exceptions. Most drinking water and irrigation matrices in both seasons are within the prescribed limits. A negligible difference exists in the concentration of ions throughout both monsoon seasons.