INTRODUCTION
A cluster of ancient temples known as Katas Raj is located in the Choa
Saiden Shah (Study Area), a town of the Salt Range, Punjab, Pakistan.
The Katas Raj Temples antedate the birth of Jesus by hundreds of years
(Ali, 2015). Scientist Alberuni attempted
to measure the circumference of the earth at the place of Katas Raj
(Shahab, 2019). The Katas Raj complex is
a sanctified place in the Hindu religion especially the sacred pond that
has different myths regarding its formation. Hindus believe that all the
sins are washed out after taking a bath in the pond. According to the
book of Rig Veda, a small stream having a depth of 300 yards exists just
beneath the pond (Shahab, 2019).
Apparently, the pond is filled naturally from the series of springs and
artesian aquifer since its creation. The pond occupies an area of 14960
sq. ft., with a maximum depth of 20 feet. Until 2007, there was no
shortage of water in the pond but after industry development and
agriculture growth, its water level started declining, ultimately
drying-up in 2017. The agriculture sector is the major user of
groundwater in the study area beside the domestic water supply. The
cement industry also prefers to use groundwater for the cooling process
due to its local availability and acceptable quality.
The concern of the Hindu community is that the Government of Pakistan
does not take care of the pond (Ali,
2015). No doubt the Government of Punjab took initiatives in the
renovation of the temples but unfortunately no concrete steps were taken
to preserve the pond due to lack of knowledge about its groundwater
system. The groundwater levels are expected to face even worse
conditions because the cement industry is going to further expand in the
Salt Range to meet the increasing demand for cement due to China
Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects and future economic
development of the country. Given the extent of groundwater resource
depletion during the last 10 years, water management is necessary to
ensure the sustainable use of water in the Salt Range which needs a
comprehensive hydrogeological/hydrometric study. (National Engineering
Services of Pakistan, “Delineating Negative and Positive Mining
Areas for the Installation of Cement Plants in the Salt Range”,unpublished report, 2018). In past, no appreciable studies were carried
out for groundwater analysis of the study area to suggest measures to
mitigate the effect of climate change and industrial stress. However,
recently, a study was carried out to assess the impact of water
abstraction on the aquifer of the Kahoon Valley, Choa Saiden Shah based
on limited geological and hydrological data without creating any
groundwater flow model. This study concluded that the water table has
declined by 4.8 m on average in the whole valley in 08 years between
2004 and 2012 proposing numerical computer modelling to opt optimal
method for artificial recharge of the aquifer of the Kahoon Valley for
sustainable water resource development (Dr. A.D Khan, Oriental
Engineering Services, Lahore, Pakistan, “Impact Assessment of
Groundwater Pumping on Kahoon Valley Aquifer” , unpublished report,
2012).
Already Pakistan uses groundwater resources to the maximum limits of
withdrawal causing significant drawdown of the water table in different
parts of the country (Young et al.,
2019). For instance, the Rachna Doab, command area of Lower Chenab
Canal (LCC) in west Punjab Province is currently threatened due to the
significant drawdown of the water table which would reach a maximum of
14 m till 2030 based on current abstraction against the existing
recharge rate, recommending sustainable water management
(Shakoor et al., 2018). Similarly, the
water table in Mithawan spate irrigated area of D.G. Khan, Pakistan is
expected to deplete up to 2.85 m / 10 years in the period from 2014 to
2024 based on current abstraction which may be stopped by maximum use of
spate water/ hill torrent for irrigation and reduce the reliance on
groundwater (Ahmad, Arshad, Iqbal, Waqas,
& Awais, 2017).
Groundwater abstraction is 33% of total water withdrawals worldwide,
consequently, most of the aquifers in arid and semi-arid zones that rely
on groundwater are experiencing rapid drawdown of groundwater
(Famiglietti, 2014). The global
groundwater depletion has increased from 126 to 283
km3 within 40 years from 1960 to 2000 in sub-humid to
arid zone(Wada et al., 2010). This
depletion rate has increased significantly since 1950, with a maximum
average rate of 145 Km3/year which is equivalent to a
0.40 mm/year rise in see-level during the period 2001-2008
(Konikow, 2011).
A few other archaeological/sacred places are also facing a similar issue
as that of Katas Raj sacred pond. The water tanks/ponds of Mylapore and
Thirupporur temples located in the city of Madras, India had dried out
in the past decade due to rapid urbanization and continuous groundwater
abstraction. Due to urbanization 90% area around the temple tanks has
become paved causing no recharge to the aquifer, therefore, these tanks
can only be fed artificially by rainwater harvesting through storm
drains covering all the catchment areas which originally contributed to
recharging the tanks (Ganesan, 2008). The
artificial recharge of an aquifer is termed as Managed Aquifer Recharge
(MAR). A variety of methods are used for MAR such as streambed channel
modifications, infiltration galleries, recharge wells, and runoff
harvesting (Dillon et al., 2019). The
runoff harvesting is an efficient method for aquifer recharge in arid
areas and cost-effective as compared to other methods of MAR
(Hashemi, Berndtsson, & Persson, 2015).
MAR describes the global recharge of the aquifer for environmental
protection and the quality of groundwater
(Sheng & Zhao, 2015). MAR is an
important water management strategy to balance the water-stressed
groundwater system. The other purpose of MAR is to overcome the seawater
intrusion and land subsidence (Bouwer,
2002). MAR requires permeable soils for surface infiltration and in the
case of impermeable soils, the aquifer is recharged through vertical
injection by digging trenches or wells in the vadose zone
(Bouwer, 2002). The researchers emphasize
MAR methods for sustainable water management keeping in view the future
demand for water, global warming, and climate change.
Sustainable groundwater development needs to be exercised for the
recovery of the environment and groundwater quality. Therefore, the
current study is an effort to analyse the groundwater regime of the
study area under different development scenarios besides the application
of the MAR approach using state of the art groundwater modelling
techniques to select a suitable strategy for sustainable groundwater
management to protect the sacred pond.
Description of the Study
Area
Salt Range, the mining hub in Punjab, Pakistan, is a series of hills
having length of 250 km and is 10 km wide. The range contains deposits
of salt & coal. Cement factories are the main industrial sector in this
area having large production of Portland cement. The study area is a
small valley that lies between 32°40’0”N latitude and 72°42’0”E
longitude spread in 175 km2 in the Salt Range. The
ancient Katas Raj Temples are located in the northern part of the Salt
Range in the Potohar Plateau region of Province Punjab, at latitude
32°43’26.47”N and longitude 72°57’5.96”E as shown in Figure.1 .
The topography of the area plays an important role in the groundwater
flow pattern. Generally, the groundwater follows surface topography
flowing from a higher elevation recharge zone to a lower elevation
discharge zone. The Digital Elevation Model (DEM 30 m SRTM) of the study
area was downloaded from U.S Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Explorer
Portal as shown in Figure.2 . The surface elevation varies
between 598 m to 979 m above Mean Sea Level (MSL).