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Leachate produced by municipal solid waste dumping site near the metropolitan city of Pune, India was examined for its pollution potential and impact on surrounding shallow basaltic aquifers. Twenty-eight physico-chemical parameters during post-and pre-monsoon seasons (Nov 2006 and May 2007) were determined to assess the seasonal variation in the leachate pollution index (LPI) as well as in the groundwater quality. The leachate demonstrated higher LPI value during pre-monsoon, comparable to those at other metropolises outside India. Potentially toxic leachates derived from the dumping site have largely influenced the adjoining basaltic aquifers through two different modes of transport. Despite high contents of heavy metals (Al, Cd, Cr, Cu,

Watersheds from semiarid zones are sensitive to land degradation processes wherein the morphometric investigation is an important aspect to unwrap the susceptible areas. Hence it is a prerequisite for the assessment of erosional pattern of the watershed. Thus, based on the response to erosional processes, prioritization task has been undertaken for fourteen sub-watersheds from basaltic region of Western Ghats of India. A morphometry-based framework using weighted sum analysis (WSA) coupled with the remote sensing data, field data and topographical maps were generated on geographical information system (GIS) platform to estimate the soil erosion susceptibility. The study also evaluates the performance of this new methodology by considering the sediment production rate (SPR) of these sub-watersheds. The resultant WSA-SPR model has prioritized the study area into high, moderate low and very low categories. The high and moderate priority areas lie in the proximity of outlet, upper elevated and undulating terrain of the watershed. It represents 41.38% of the total area covering SW1, 3, 13 and 14 sub-watersheds. This study proposes a useful tool to define areas for planning the strategies to control soil erosion and promote soil conservation. ARTICLE HISTORY

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