Groundwater exploitation is one of the major problems due to increasing population, urbanization and industrialization which makes the groundwater unfavorable for living beings. This study deals with assessment of groundwater quality in Mondipatti and its surrounding area, Tiruchirapalli district, Tamil Nadu, India, where Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited (TNPL) installed and commissioned its Unit II during January, 2016. The groundwater samples were collected and quality parameters were assessed for its applicability in irrigation and drinking purposes. The parameters analyzed were compared with water quality standards of World Health Organization (WHO).Geographic information system techniques were used for mapping the water quality consequence.

The study was carried out at Agricultural College and Research Institute, Echangkottai, Thanjavur, a new TNAU research farm having an area of around 123 acres, wherein the cultivable land is divided into 6 main blocks and with further subdivisions. Field wise soil samples were collected and analyzed to assess fertility status. In total, 74 surface (0-15 cm) and sub-surface (15-30 cm) soil samples were collected and analyzed for the parameters viz., Soil reaction, Electrical conductivity OC, CEC, macronutrients, micronutrients. The soil reaction of farm soils ranged from strongly acid i.e (5.5) to very strongly acidic (4.7). The organic carbon content recorded a decreasing trend from the surface to sub-surface. The farm soil is low in available nitrogen, medium to low in available phosphorus and low in available potassium. All the farm soils are sufficient in available zinc, copper, manganese, iron status. .

In India, out of 329 million hectares of total geographical area, the arid and semi-arid occupy more than one third of the area (127.4 m ha). The salt affected soils occurring in these zones occupy 12 m ha spread over 15 states of the country. These salt affected soil zones comprise of 4.12 m ha of alkali soil, 3.26 m ha of saline soil and 4.62 m ha of saline alkali soils. Among these salt affected soils, alkali soils are found to be highly problematic for crop production because of very poor physical and chemical environment particularly in irrigated areas. Sodicity problem in irrigated agriculture is becoming more and more serious because of poor quality water, lack of adequate knowledge about soils and poor management practices. The amelioration of these alkali soils is not only expensive but also time consuming and laborious (Gupta et al., 1995). Traditionally, gypsum is recommended for the reclamation of sodic soils but ability to reclaim the soil depends on the quality (fineness and solubility) and quantity of gypsum used. With an idea to explore the possibilities of nanotechnology in soil reclamation and to improve the efficiency and economise the gypsum requirement, a maiden attempt was made to design nano-gypsum for soil reclamation.