Abstract
This study emphasizes the quantitative and qualitative assessment of local water sources, along with their socio-economic significance for underpinning the most feasible and sustainable water management arrangements in the Darjeeling town. The assessment of the ten major natural springs is done by measuring discharge and water quality during 2015–16. The findings suggest that the average discharge from these local water sources is gradually decreasing. Water quality in almost all the samples is relatively poor, which could be linked to increasing urbanization and ill-structured practices of waste disposal in and around the town. More attention is needed to protect and conserve local water sources. This could be achieved by implementing appropriate conservation policies.
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Acknowledgements
The financial support from UGC vide PSW-124/14-15 (ERO) and institutional assistance from St. Joseph’s College, Darjeeling are highly acknowledged. The authors would also like to thank Dr. Dorjey Lama and Dr. Upkar Rai for their valuable suggestions during this study.
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Tamang, L., Chhetri, A., Chhetri, A. (2020). Sustaining Local Water Sources: The Need for Sustainable Water Management in the Hill Towns of the Eastern Himalayas. In: Bandyopadhyay, S., Magsi, H., Sen, S., Ponce Dentinho, T. (eds) Water Management in South Asia. Contemporary South Asian Studies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35237-0_8
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