01
JAMWA RAMGARH RESERVOIR: STATUS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS
Kumari Anamika1, M. P. Punia2 and Chilka Sharma1
1

Department of Earth Sciences, Banasthali Vidyapeeth, Newai, Rajasthan, India
Head, Department of Remote Sensing, Birla Institute of Scientific Research, Jaipur, India
Email: ana.mika7026@gmail.com, punia.rsd@gmail.com

2

How to cite this paper:
Anamika Kumari,Punia,
M.P., and Sharma, Chilka(2021) Jamwa Ramgarh
Reservoir: Status and future
prospects, Journal of Global
Resources, Vol. 07 (02)DOI:
10.46587/JGR.2021.v07i02.001

Received: 21 March 2021
Reviewed: 10 April 2021
Revised: 11 May 2021
Final Accepted: 27 May 2021

Freely available Online
www.isdesr.org

Abstract: Urbanization and industrialization have increased
size of habitations, and accordingly water requirements also
increased. Rajasthan being located in semi-arid area havesevere problems of water supply to most of the towns
including capital town Jaipur. Initial source water wasprovided through tanks, Ponds, Baorietc constructed. As
population and development happened, it was started from
Jamwa-Ramgarh, which is 25 kilometers away from Jaipurcity. After drying of Jamwa Ramgarh, government ofRajasthan started Banas water by constructing dam at
Bisalpur and there is new plan to tape Himalaya’s feed rivers
through river linking or any other network of canals. But thisprocess is not sustainable as there is limitation of technical,
social issues for long distance transfer of water. The
sustainable solution of this ever-increasing problem israinwater
harvesting,construction
andscientificmanagement of lakes, ponds etc. The present study is
focused on Jamwa-Ramgarh reservoir, which was prime
source of drinking water earlier, now dried up due to mismanagement and scope of revival of ecosystem its
catchment as sustainable source of water. Earlier Ramgarh
reservoir was major source of water supply to Jaipur city.
After 1990 water supply from Ramgarh reservoir has
reduced continuously due to unavailability of water inreservoir. At present dam remain operational only during
rainy season and post rainy period (July – November). Usingsatellite data (IRS-LISS-III and Google Earth) and field
investigations, 104 hydrological structures have been
identified, which if reached to the Ramgarh reservoir can fill
the reservoir up to 32 ft. height, and support Jaipur city insustainable manner.
Keywords: Jamwa Ramgarh Reservoir, Canal Network,
Banas River, Hydrological Structure

Journal of Global Resources, July 2021, Volume 07 (02) K. Anamika, M. P. Punia and C. Sharma Page 1 | 10

Introduction
The primary source of water in the Rajasthan is precipitation. Rainfall in large parts of the stateis inadequate and varies sharply every year. This results into draughts. Water flow in the state
rivers is entirely dependent upon the incidence of rainfall. Rajasthan population growth rate ishighest in the country. Water demand is increasing continuously because of, development,
tourism and recreation Water supply has either remained unchanged or further reduced. Twothirds of the state suffers from recurrent water scarcity. Ramgarh Lake used to be the major
source of water supply in Jaipur city, but due to some negligence and lack of proper
management, and maintenance the lake is on the urge of dying. Ramgarh is an artificial lake
created by constructing a dam across Banganga River. There are hills at both side of dam andhave good storage space. The lake is situated at 25 Km. in northeast direction from Jaipur city,where the temple of Mata and the ruins of the old fort are some of its antiquities. It is good
tourist spot for visitors.
Study Area and its Characteristics
The catchment area of Ramgarh Lake hosts variety of flora, fauna and geomorphic landforms,
especially an undulating terrain with subdued relief merging into the alluvial tract drained by
the river Banganga, which is the major contributory in Ramgarh Lake. The downward flow ofriver Banganga is in a sinusoidal fashion towards its destination i.e., the Ramgarh Lake, which
covers approximately a distance of 59.81 kms.

Figure 01: Location of the Study Area
ClimateThe Ramgarh lake catchment has a semi-arid type of sub-tropical monsoon climate with dryhot summers, low scanty monsoon rains, and a cold winter season. The winter commencesfrom October, Summer starts from middle of April and reach its peak in May-June, when
average maximum temperature goes up to 40.6℃ in May.

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Rainfall
Table 1. shows that most of the rainfall recorded at Ramgarh meteorological station is during
the monsoon months i.e., from June to September, whereas, remaining part of the year
remains dry or very less rainfall received. It is either due to mid latitudinal western disturbances
or due to the local disturbances (fig2). Rainfall data of 21 years of Ramgarh station have been
analyzed. Maximum rainfall is recorded in year 1996 (1092.1mm) and minimum in year 1987
(286.1mm) (Table 2).
Rainfall (mm)

250

168.7

200

191.3

No.of Rainy Days

n
Ja

b
Fe

y
Ma

ne
Ju

ly
Ju

st
gu
Au

pt.
Se

t.
Oc

v.
No

2.2
0.5

8.4
0.2

0.6

4.5

2.6

8.5

18.8

ril
Ap

rch
Ma

1

2.4
0.3

4.8
0.5

0

8.1
0.7

7.8
0.7

50

9.4

40.8

100

77.2

89.8

150

c.
De

Figure 02: Average Rainfall & Rainy days in Jamwa-Ramgarh Catchment
Temperature
The average temperature during summer of the Ramgarh catchment is 21.6ºC (table below).
However, the mean monthly maximum of the region is 40.6ºC. (fig 3)
45
40
35
30
25

Max.Temp. (ºC)

20

Min. Temp (ºC)

15
10
5

Dec.

Nov.

Oct.

Sept.

August

July

June

May

April

March

Feb

Jan

0

Figure 03: Mean Monthly Minimum and Maximum Temperature

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Geology
The basic data of Lithology, synthesized for the catchment area have been incorporated into
Arc/Info vector layer (fig 4).

Figure 04: Geology of Study Area

Figure 05: Geomorphology of Study area

Geomorphology
The landform divisions are based on the existing relief features, and provide a basis of thestudy of geomorphic evolution of the terrain which has been sculptured by a number of
erosional cycles represented by various surfaces (Fig 5).
Slope
Slope plays very significant role in determining infiltration, and runoff in any watershed orcatchment. Infiltration is inversely related to slope i.e., gentler the slope is, infiltration would be
more and runoff would be less and vice-versa. The slope map has been created using DEM
of study area while defining a cell size of 23.5 meters.

Figure 06: Slope Map

Figure 07: Digital Elevation Model

Land use / Land Cover
The supervised classification for Land use / land cover was done on IRS-ID LISS-III images
for years 1996-97 and 2005-06 using maximum likelihood algorithm. Additionally, manual

Journal of Global Resources, July 2021, Volume 07 (02) K. Anamika, M. P. Punia and C. Sharma Page 4 | 10refinement has been done using available topographic maps and ground truth data that has
been collected.

Figure 08: Land use/Land Cover, 1996

Figure 09: Land use/Land Cover, 2005-06

Problem Statement
Ramgarh reservoir which was the, prime source of water supply for Jaipur city has dried andis becoming a matter of prime concern. The statistics tells that the water supply is surprisingly
reduced as 25 lac liter/day had been supplied against the supply of 425 lac liter/day initially.
The water level on April 01, 2006 was R.L. 226 (26 feet) and its capacity was 44.60 Mcft. at
the same level. The reservoir was almost dry on March 01, 2007. Thereafter Ramgarh reservoir
is not getting any inflow, and dried completely.
Objectives
1. To identify and map the hydrological structures raised in the upper catchment ofRamgarh reservoir.
2. To access the possible effect of these hydrological structures on the storage and inflow
parameters at Ramgarh reservoir.
3. To suggest possible interventions to restore the ecological status of reservoir and its
catchment.
Methodology
Remote Sensing data of the years 1984 and 2005 were analyzed digitally to understand thepatterns of land use / land cover, and changes occurred during this period. The secondary
data pertaining to rainfall in the study area from 1984 to 2005, interception, transpiration, inflow,
parameters effecting runoff, the river channels, storage capacity at various levels of Ramgarh
dam, annual water supply from Ramgarh etc. were collected. Hydrological structures wereidentified on satellite images of IRS-LISS III images of Google Earth and by field visits.
Measurement of length, width and depth of individual structures were measured physical on
the ground, and calculated storage capacity of individual structures. Categorizations ofhydrological structures have been done into major medium and minor as per their storage
capacity. Catchments of individual structures have been demarcated on 1:50,000 toposheets
and satellite images. Runoff from each catchment has been calculated as per the stranger’stable method and compared with the storage capacity of individual structures to calculate
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effectiveness of structures in the way of flowing water. Total quantity of water being intervened
by hydrological structures have been calculated by analyzing storage capacity and runoff
generation from the catchments.
Analysis
To understand the drainage interrelationship morphometric parameter have been calculated
at micro watershed level, by GIS this purpose remote sensing and GIS tools are used fordrainage delineation and updation. Number and order of stream length, drainage density,
stream frequency, bifurcation ratio, shape index, circulatory ratio have been calculated forwater resource planning. The first order drainage has a frequency of 2.525, highest amongst
all. Although they lack the central part of the area, yet have a good association around, and at
the marginal areas of hills and residual hills. During the field work, it has been found that thehigher frequency of first order drainage give the villagers an idea for earthen dams constructedby soil, clay and stones at the hill slopes. These areas having high drainage frequency are thesame with high drainage density and high run off producing areas. Maximum structures areconstructed on these land and abstracting water outflow from these high runoff generatingareas. The high frequency of these is probably due to the development of gullies and rills at
the margins of hilly area where water strikes with a high velocity. The second order drainage
has an average frequency of 1.197 formed due to the meeting of two first order drainage andwell distributed all over the study area.

Hydrological Structures
The study area comprises 12 major hydrological structures, which have storage capacity 0f
5,000 m3. The total storage capacity of the major hydrological structure is 2334641.226 m3.
Maximum storage capacity is found for hydrological structure (HS) no. 52 with storage capacityof 858593.75 m3 followed by SH no 104 with the storage capacity of 441773.438. Minimum
storage capacity is found for HS no.60 with storage capacity of 5102.5 m 3 only. Whateveramount of water, comes and gets stored in these hydrological structures in the form of rainfall
and runoff, gets intercepted in between and severely affect the amount of runoff, which reaches
to fill the Ramgarh reservoir. There are 16 medium hydrological structures, with storage
capacity ranging from 1000-5,000 m3. They collectively store total 35447.39 m3 of water. Apart
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from the above-mentioned categories, 76 minor structures have been found with storage
capacity below 1000 m3. They collectively can store 19937.68 m3 water. Major, Medium andminor hydrological structures collectively can store 2390026.296 m3. Looking to the storage
capacities, it is clear that contribution of medium and minor hydrological structures is quite
insignificant and accounts for 1.46% and 0.08% of the total storage capacity. Majorhydrological structures; restrict the maximum water to reach the Ramgarh reservoir.
The major structures vary widely in storage capacity. Maximum storage capacity isfound as 858593.75 & 441773.438 m3 for hydrological structure number 52 & 104 respectively.
Minimum storage capacity is found as 5102.5 m3 for structure number 60. These structurescollectively can store 2334641.226 m3 of water.

Estimation of Total Run-off
For the study we used empirical equation method for calculation of Run-off. Study shows thatstorage capacity is not of the order of runoff generation from catchment areas. Some majorhydrological structures are small than runoff Generation (HS No. 1, 76). Otherwise,hydrological structures are bigger than the estimated runoff. Storage capacity of all majorhydrological structures is 2334641.226 m3 against the runoff Generation of 2259040.91 m3.
One hydrological structure (HS no. 104) constructed across Madhubani river, has water
throughout the year.
Imbalance between storage capacity and runoff Generation in case of mediumhydrological structures is very high in compared to major structures. Total storage capacity of
all the medium hydrological structures is 35447.39 m3 against the runoff 336662.289 m3. These
structures are mainly constructed on second or third order streams which generally remain dry
except in rainy days only and also for few hours. Therefore, the entire runoff is received during
few rainy days only and after few days this accumulated water percolate down or evaporates.
During rainy season these structures get water many times. Therefore, higher runoff
accommodated in these smaller structures. Apart from these medium structures there aremany very small earthen structures also constructed for the purpose of soil and water
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conservation, which store very small quantity of water (may few cubic meters) but are able to
distribute flowing water into small water fills and effectively check the incoming water. Thiswater percolate down or evaporate immediately in 2/3 days because porosity of sandy soils isvery high and the evaporation rates is also high. Therefore, a medium structure is able to catch
more amount of runoff generated from catchment areas in many spaces.
Field Photographs

Medium Hydrological Structure
Minor hydrological structures are very small but are able to stop large quantity of water
because they are constructed on Ist or IInd order streams where small quantity of water isreached during rain or may be up to few minutes after actual rains. During gap in rains thewater either percolate down or evaporates and these structures become dry and again they
get water in next span of rain. This way these structures get water many times in a season andable to catch big amount of water during entire monsoon season. Therefore, these small
structures are putting very effective check over runoff from their catchment. Minor structures
have storage capacity of 19937.68 m3 against runoff 2203155.962 m3.

Minor Geological Structure

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Major hydrological structures can store the entire runoff generated from theircatchments. (2259040.91) These structures are most affect the inflow of water into Ramgarh
reservoir. Storage capacity of medium hydrological structures is 35447.39 m3 but due to limited
number of rain days, when practically runoff is generated, these structures are able to catch
336662.39 m3 of water. Similarly, all 76 minor hydrological structures collectively can store
19937.68 m3 water at a time but practically they along with the micro structures (hundreds innumber) can intercept huge amount of runoff (2203155.96 m3) during total monsoon season.
Storage Capacity of Ramgarh Reservoir
Water level data of 32 years have been analyzed. It is evident from data that up to year 1986
Ramgarh reservoir got good amount of water, when only few hydrological structures wereconstructed. During last 32 years water level reached to maximum capacity of 65 feet in year
1975. Thereafter it was never reached to the maximum capacity. During 1985 there was goodrains during June, July and August months and the water level was reached to 62 feet. During
1987 because rainfall was abnormally low during these months and as a result water level
come down to 27 feet and 9 inches only, which has again raised during 1988-89 due to goodrains. Water level observed very low in drought years of 1990, 1991 which was 17’ 10” and 27’
8.5” respectively. Period 1992-98 was experienced normal rains and water level was remains
at medium level between 37 to 49 feet. After 1998 water level decreased sharply and could
not come up because most of the structures are constructed after year 1997 through watersheddevelopment programs launched by Department of Forest and Department of Watershed andSoil Conservation. During 2003 there was abnormally high rainfall (1068 mm) but water levelin Ramgarh dam could reach only up to 37’8”. Thereafter the reservoir is dried except during
rainy season, and then dried completely.
Conclusion
The study shows that Jamwa Ramgarh Reservoir catchment has good runoff potential.
According to the current study 4.799 million cubic meter (167.965 mcft.) runoff is generated
from the catchment but 104 hydrological structures constructed across drainage channels has
stopped the runoff to reach the water to the reservoir. This amount of water if reached to Jamwa
Ramgarh reservoir it is sufficient to fill this reservoir up to 32 ft. height and can support to meet
the water demand of Jaipur city in sustainable manner. Apart from 104 listed hydrologicalstructures there are hundreds of micro structures available in the catchment area but they areso small that their storage capacities are negligible but able to stop process of runoff generationfrom tail ends of 1st order streams. Due to these micro structures triggering of runoff is affectedfrom many ends, which has resulted into considerable reduction in runoff generation.
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