JAPRS & SIS, Vol.34, Part 7, “Resource and Environmental Monitoring”, Hyderabad, India, 2002 
  
HYDROGEOMORPHOLOGICAL MAPPING USING REMOTE SENSING 
TECHNIQUES FOR WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT OF YAMUNANAGAR 
DISTRICT, HARYANA. 
Arvind.C.Pandey®, M.S.Nathawat® 
“ Haryana State Council for Science & Technology, Chandigarh. Email: arvindchandrap @ yahoo.com 
 Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi (Jharkhand). Email: msnathawat yahoo.com 
KEYWORDS: Hydrogeomorphological Mapping, Remote Sensing, Water Resource Management 
ABSTRACT: 
Yamunanagar district lies in the northeastern part of Haryana State covering an area of about 1779.51 sq. km. The ground water 
prospect zones in district were delineated based on hydrogeomorphological mapping on 1:50,000 scale using IRS-1C satellite 
images. The Yamunanagar district exhibits diverse hydrogeomorphological conditions where the ground water regime is controlled 
mainly by topography and geology. The rock formations encountered in the area belongs to Middle Siwalik, which covers about 
5.84% area of the district. The rest of the district area (94.16%) is covered by Older and Newer alluvium, which consist of sand, silt, 
clays, kankar, gravel and boulders. The main hydrogeomorphic units found in the area are alluvial plain (72.08%), flood plain (5.78), 
denudational hill (5.83%), piedmont zone (5.07%) and intermontane valley (0.85%). The water resources management in 
Yamunanagar district is envisaged on the basis of ground water prospect zones, drainage and watershed, landuse and status of 
groundwater exploitation. Very good to good ground water prospects account for 71.12% area of the districts whereas excellent area 
in ground water prospect is only about 12.28%. Good to moderate, moderate to poor and poor to nil categories covers about 5-6% 
area in each category. The Kandi area (Piedmont Zone) is the main recharge zone through which infiltrated water flows down the 
slopes. The location of check dams (2 in number), subsurface dykes (5) and 21 desiltation of tank sites inferred in the area using 
satellite images can trounce water scarcity in water deficient areas especially in hilly terrain. The study shows that the remote 
sensing techniques can be applied effectively for water resource management. 
1. INTRODUCTION 3. STUDY AREA 
  
Water resources of the Yamunanagar district are under threat 
owing to depleting water table and deterioration in the quality 
of water. The economy of Yamunanagar district is depended to 
greater extent upon agriculture and industry. The challenge 
therefore is to make these resources sustainable to make them 
more productive and their exploitation less hazardous. The 
principal source of ground water recharge in the district is 
through rainfall, although the river and streams emerging from 
Himalayas also forms a significant recharge source. The 
satellite imagery portrays an unbiased picture of the area 
providing integrated information on different terrain factors 
controlling the surface and ground water regime. The satellite 
image based information coupled with field and ancillary date 
helped in preparation of water resource management plan of 
Yamunanagar district. 
2. OBJECTIVE 
The present investigation is undertaken to prepare 
hydogeomorphological map and delineate surface water 
harvesting structures using satellite images on 1:50,000 scale to 
develop water resource management plan of the Yamunanagar 
district. 
The Yamunanagar district lies in the northeastern part of 
Haryana State within longitude 77? 05' 00" to 77? 36' 20" (N) 
and latitude 29? 55' to 30? 30' (E) covering an area of about 
1779.51 sq. km. The district is mainly drained by the river 
Yamuna, Markanda and their tributaries. The relief of the area 
ranges from lowest of 259m over the plains to the highest 
elevation of 640m over the Siwalik hills. The climate of the 
district is characterized by a hot and dry summer, southwest 
monsoon and cold season. 
4. DRAINAGE AND WATERSHED 
The drainage network in Yamunanagar district belongs to river 
Yamuna and Markanda. River Yamuna and its tributaries 
(Somb, Khard, Pathrala, and Bholi) drain about 5096 of the 
district area, which covers northern and northeastern parts of 
the district. The Markanda river along with its tributaries drain 
the northwestern part of the district. The Yamuna and 
Markanda are perennial rivers whereas most of their tributaries 
are ephemeral in nature but carry huge water and sediment load 
during monsoon period. 
In the area under study the watershed demarcation was done 
using geo-coded IRS-IC FCC's on 1:50,000 scale with the aid 
of Survey of India topographical sheets. The demarcation of 
watershed upto micro-level watersheds (Table 1) was carried 
out as per the guidelines of NRSA incorporating the standard 
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