Spatio temporal changes in population growth and impact on domestic water supply in kolkata metropolitan area Mitra Debjani Assistant Professor of Geography Deputy Director of Public Instruction, Higher Education Department, Bikash Bhavan, Salt Lake, Kolkata, India. Email- debjanimitra2805@gmail.com, debjanimitra77@yahoo.com Online published on 10 September, 2019. Abstract Urban water supply is a global problem. With increasing pressure of urbanization and related problems like population growth, climate change etc., cities of the future, will face difficulties in efficiently managing the scarcer and less reliable water resources. The water supply in Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMA) located along the banks of the River Hooghly in the state of West Bengal, is not only linked with supply and demand gap but also with the occurrence of arsenic and salinity in groundwater. Out of 41 municipalities, 40 municipalities and the outlying rural areas are dependent on groundwater. Groundwater thus plays an important role to cater to the demand of 52% of the population of KMA. In this context it is important to study the trend of population growth of the constituent units of KMA and identify water demand vulnerable areas for efficient water supply management. From the analysis of the average growth rate of population, four municipalities and eight rural areas have been identified as water demand vulnerable areas of KMA. In the eastern part of KMA further groundwate. abstract ion should be restricted due to arsenic contamination of aquifers. In the western part further groundwater development is possible but through proper management. Top Keywords Kolkata Metropolitan Area, urbanization, population growth rate, demand supply gap, water demand vulnerable area, efficient water supply management. Top |