**4. Hydrogeology of the study area**

Generally, groundwater occurs in all the formations of the study area. But it occurs under phreatic conditions in the weathered and fractured rocks at shallow depths and under semi-confined to confined conditions in the deeper fractured rocks. Development of the aquifer conditions in the quartz-mica schist and banded-biotite-hornblende-gneiss is generally less due to lack of primary porosity. However, the occurrence and movement of groundwater in the rocks depend on the development of extent of weathered rock portions and degree of the fractures in the rocks. The depth of weathering in the rocks is from 2 to 12 m below ground level (bgl) and the fractured rocks from 3 to 32 m bgl. Development of groundwater is through shallow wells (dug wells) and deep wells (bore wells/tube wells) in the study area. The depth of dug wells varies from 5.50 to 18.50 m bgl.
