ABSTRACT
Igneous andmetamorphic rocks are termed as hard rock or fractured rock. These rocks are exposed over large areas in several parts of the world, occupying about 20% – approximately 30 million sq. km – of the land area. The occurrence of groundwater in hard rock is, in general, heterogeneous and complex. Compared to sedimentary areas, hard rock possesses relatively fewer yielding, shallow discontinuous aquifers in saturated weathered and semi-weathered zones and the deeper fractured zones in underlying compact formation. Development of these aquifers of limited dimension varies from area to area, depending on their availability, water quality, storage, yielding capacity, specific need and contribution to meet the demands. Nevertheless, groundwater from these aquifers forms an indispensable component of water supply systems for drinking, irrigation and industry.
