S.N. Arts, D.J.M. Commerce & B.N.S. Science College, Sangamner 422605, India

Speech Title: Geospatial Technology for Sustainable Water Diversion Planning in Western Ghats Area, Maharashtra, India
Abstract
Most of the water diversion projects in the world are persisting impractical due to absence of precise level physical, hydrological, land use land cover (LULC) and linked socio-economic information prior to project execution. Obtaining the data for successive performance of water allocation by convectional surveying is time consuming where need a large resources with mega budgetary provision. Similarly, it is environmentally significant disputes, which need to implement with technically feasible and socially acceptable manner. In India, most of the plans of the National Water Grid (NWG) prepared by the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) persist unworkable due to absence of geospatial information and social supports and to be gone now. Unless carry this diversion project with sustainable approach it will not possible to overcome the water scarcity problem with precise level management. Thus, approach privileged in this attempt, gravity-based water diversion through the diversion canal around water divider tracts of the Western Ghats area (Upper Godavari Basin), Maharashtra will be more sustainable. In view of this, experts (n=5) and literature (n=50) survey were carried out and used Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for weighting of selected parameters and to develop the multi-parametric model. The water diversion approach was weighted by (1) diversion canal with 71.7% - weight 1, (2) reservoir and canal with 21.7% - weight 2 and (3) reservoir and tunnel with 6.6% - weight 3. Based on the experts and literature survey, AHP weight and multi-parametric model sustainable diversion sites were identified from integrated databases in geospatial techniques. For this purpose, space-based inputs, primary and secondary information were incorporated in Geographical Information System (GIS) and used to gather the physical, hydrological, LULC information for decision making process to support the sustainable water diversion planning in the selected study area.