Date of Publication : August 2026

Abstract: In semiarid areas with limited access to surface water, groundwater is an essential resource. Khuldabad region of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar is situated on the Deccan Plateau and has surface water shortage due to basaltic geology, over extraction and unpredictable rainfall. This study applies RS-GIS together with AHP. This research identifies areas with the potential to contain groundwater. Various influencing parameters including topography (elevation), land gradient (slope), drainage characteristics, soil properties, geomorphological features, LULC and vegetation conditions (NDVI) were created to categorized different weights. Subsequently, weightage overlay based spatial evaluation method was perform for finding groundwater suitability zone, which were categorized as very high, high, moderate, poor and very poor. The most influencing elements according to the results are elevation (27%) and geomorphology (23%). Based on the results RS, GIS and AHP integration is a cost effective and efficient method for assessing groundwater and managing sustainably.

Keyword : Khuldabad, Groundwater Potential, Thematic Layers, Remote Sensing, Weighted Overlay Analysis, GIS, AHP.

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