Coal is one of the most essential resources of a country. It is widely used for power generation and as a raw material in the industries. India ranks third in coal production. However, the country has to import coal in order to meet the rising demand for coal. In India, coal mining is conducted using two methods: underground and opencast methods. The underground method is suitable for extraction of deeper coal seams, whereas opencast method is suitable for shallow coal seams. However, due to less production cost, mechanisation, and less wastage, opencast method dominates in India (93.26% of the total production in the financial year 2016-17). Underground coal production in India shows a declining trend, and several underground mines are closed every year. However, 60% of the total coal production in the world is from underground mines, whereas in India it constitutes only 6.74% in the financial year 2016-17. Thus, underground coal production in India is declining. Due to the large scale extraction of near-surface coal resources by opencast mining, near-surface coal resources will be depleted in future. Moreover, opencast mining has several environmental impacts, which is ignored keeping in view the colossal coal demand of the country. Thus, coal production in India is facing a crisis concerning the production method, environmental impacts and future demand for coal. With this background, this paper has been prepared on the basis of data collected from reports, research papers, and articles. Here, we make an attempt to compare both the mining methods with respect to advantages, disadvantages, environmental impact and feasibility. We also discuss the current and future trends of coal production using both the mining methods. Measures to sustain coal production in India are discussed in the conclusion part.
Urbanisation is one of the most significant development process affecting the modern world particularly the developing countries. However, often the pattern and level of urban development are highly variable both spatially and temporally. Barasat subdivision comprises the sadar subdivision of the district of North 24 Parganas in West Bengal. This district traditionally has a glorious history of urbanisation being much higher than both the state and national averages. Within the district, this subdivision has shown a slow and steady growth of urbanisation since independence. Although the percentage of urban population has remained below the district average it has been significantly higher than the state and national average. The study aims to find out the trends, levels of urbanisation and spatio-temporal pattern of urbanisation in the study area using quantitative and qualitative techniques. Mostly secondary data sources have been used. The study reveals that there are significant spatio-temporal variation in levels of urbanisation within the subdivision. The subdivision was overshadowed in the urban scenario mainly due to the overwhelming presence of neighbouring Barrackpore subdivision till 1981. The situation has significantly altered after Barasat being declared the district headquarter in 1986.
Libraries are particularly vulnerable to high fire load and therefore fire-fighting preparedness is an important aspect of library management. Suitable contingency plans are necessary to protect the educational and archival resources from irreparable damage. The present work accentuated the expediency of Geographical Information System (GIS) application using Computer Aided Design (CAD) model and in fire-fighting preparedness focussed on library facilities at the Central library of The University of Burdwan, West Bengal, India as a case study. The purpose of this work is to review current legislation and guidelines on fire safety in library facilities according to Indian Standard, and analyze the present situation in terms of existing infrastructure and facilities at the Burdwan University Central library (BUCL). With this, the fire emergency service response in GIS environment finally presents the findings of the case study to assess the provision of these requirements in BUCL. This Paper presents a detailed study on the fire preparedness analysis of the library with recommendations categorized in different levels of cost analysis, this work would be effective for successfully analysing the fire-fighting preparedness inside as well as outside of library facilities; the recommendations are also applicable to and can be followed as per need and available fund by other libraries.
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