Impact of opencast coal mining on water environment - a case study

Abstract

In the pursuit for rapid industrial growth in India the consumption of coal as an energy resource has increased manifold. In comparison to coal production, much less attention is paid to the ecological aspects in the coal mining industry. This is perhaps because the disastrous effect caused by newly modified environments due to mining in a particular area is not immediate, but effects are visible after a period of time. Hence, with the adoption of advanced technology for higher production, India is gradually heading towards irreversible environmental damage brought about by land degradation, deforestation, water pollution, air pollution and noise pollution. As a part of an exercise to study the impact of large scale opencast mining operations, Singrauli Coalfield is an excellent example. The paper is part of research work being carried out in Singrauli coalfields (now Northern Coalfields Ltd.) the biggest opencast coal mine in Asia. The paper attempts to cover various sources of water pollution in Singrauli opencast coal mine at one place and the measurement of chemical parameters of water to assess the water quality degradation in and around the mine. 11 refs.