ABSTRACT A significant volume of groundwater is extracted from Indian aquifers, approximately 1427 m 3 per capita, which categorizes the country as water‐stressed according to the Falkenmark index. However, India has a substantial amount of surface water that, with minimal processing, can be made available for distribution. Climate change and the growing population in India are leading people to rely more on groundwater. This groundwater is used for drinking, irrigation, and in the beverage industry. The Purba Medinipur shoreline is 90.6‐km long, accounting for 57.52% of the coastline of West Bengal. In this region, the lithological characteristics indicate that the upper brackish aquifer is located at 120 m below ground level (mbgl), with a confined aquifer situated below that level. Surface alluvial soil is also present here. Using GIS methodology, the groundwater potential (GWP) in Purba Medinipur is estimated to be 2.771 and 2.869 billion m 3 in the upper and lower aquifers. This method provides insights into the significance of GWP at a particular location and can also be cross‐verified using the D8 model procedure in GIS. Areas like Panskura, Egra I–II, Potashpur I–II exhibit high GWP, while Kolaghat, parts of Panskura, Moyna, Tamluk, Sahid Matangini, and portions of Potashpur‐I are identified as having very low GWP. Notably, the upper aquifer is also facing saline water intrusion. Consequently, techniques such as fluoride removal, membrane treatment, ion exchange, distillation, bioremediation, magnetic separation, and hybrid technologies can be implemented, as feasible, to mitigate the freshwater crisis along the coasts of Purba Medinipur.
Chakraborty et al. (Sun,) studied this question.