Groundwater is a vital resource for drinking and irrigation and signifies a significant pathway for human exposure in various arid and semi-arid regions worldwide. The present study evaluates the groundwater quality for drinking and human health risk assessment in the central-western part of Haryana state (India). For these, 136 sets of groundwater samples were collected from all blocks of the study area. The value of WQI ranges between 63.50 to 541.57, with a mean of 203.68. it is noticed that 38.24 % of the sample were unsuitable for drinking. The spatial map of WQI represents that poor (WQI ranged from 200 to 300), and extremely poor (WQI > 300) quality of groundwater was found in the western part of the study area. The NO3-value was found to vary from 5 mg/L to 996 mg/L, with a mean of 198.08 mg/L. It was found that 50.74 % of groundwater samples showed nitrate levels higher than the permissible limit suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2017) and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS, 2015). The results of health risks range from 0.136 to 27.065 with an average of 5.383 for infants, 0.130 to 25.965 with an average of 5.164 for children, and 0.136 to 27.065 with an average of 5.383 for adults, indicating health risk level was higher in infants and children as compared to the adults in the study area. The results of this study reveal that groundwater quality within the region has deteriorated and offers a scientific foundation for mitigating and managing nitrate pollution in groundwater, as well as new ideas for preventing potential health hazards.
