Hydrogeomorphological study based on remote sensing of Mulug Taluk, Warangal District, Andhra Pradesh, India

Remote sensing (RS) applications have become an important tool for the rapid evaluation of water resources. This paper deals with the utilization of RS data as the main input in an integrated approach for groundwater targeting. The Mulug Taluk, with an areal extent of 3200 km 2 , is one of the poor taluks in the Warangal District, Andhra Pradesh, India. A hydrogeomorphological study based on remote sensing (Landsat 5, TM) helped in establishing: (i) a broad demarcation of different lithologicalunits viz., old Pakhals, Vindhyans, Gondwanas and recent alluvium; (ii) erosional landforms (96%) viz., denudational hills, structural hills, mesa/buttes, linear ridges, a pediment inselberg complex, a shallow weathered pediplain, a moderately weathered pediplain and depositional landforms (4%) such as flood plain areas; and (iii) delineation of minor and major lineaments. The investigations revealed that the potential for groundwater development is in the preferential order of alluvium, Gondwanas and Puranas. A statistical treatment of the data also confirmed that wells on lineaments yield more than wells away from lineaments. NE-SW structural trends cutting across the regional trend appeared to be more favourable for the exploitation of baseflow for shallow groundwater development.