Impact of coal mining on land use dynamics and soil quality: Assessment of land degradation vulnerability through conjunctive use of analytical hierarchy process and geospatial techniques

Abstract

Coal is the major source of energy in India, where 66% of the thermal power is generated from different grades of coal. The surging energy demand for domestic and industrial sectors has accelerated coal production through intensive coal mining from existing mines and there is exploration for potential areas across the Country. More than 80% of the coal excavated from open cast mining, which is a damaging form of mining that is often associated with undesirable land use changes, soil degradation, and deforestation and is responsible for other environmental degradation. The present study has been conducted in Manendragarh coal mining area located in northern Chhattisgarh, Central India using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and geospatial tools. LANDSAT-TM and OLI satellite data from 1990 and 2020 were digitally analyzed applying a maximum likelihood supervised classification technique in ERDAS IMAGINE and Arc-GIS platforms. Spatial analysis of satellite data revealed that the area under forest, agriculture-fallow, and waterbodies fell by 14.5%, 12.9%, and 2.52%, respectively, due mainly to conversion into degraded land, while the mining area and built-up areas were proportionally enhanced by 3.2% and 0.59% between 1990 and 2020. The intense mining resulted in deterioration of soil health, where the organic C, pH, and soil depth were considerably decreased in mined sites and degraded lands, compared to agricultural and forest areas. The major determinant biophysical, topographic, and soil factors were integrated in a GIS platform to derive a land degradation vulnerability index (LDVI), which identified five vulnerability classes. The salient findings of study provides the critical inputs for the policy makers/environmentalists in prioritization and decision-making for implementing remedial measures for the eco-restoration of mining degraded landscapes and also the improvement of ecology and environment along with sustainable coal mining.

Traditional Uses and Ethno-Medicinal Plants: Insights From the Korba District of Chhattisgarh, India

“…The utilization of medicinal plants provides practically all of the indigenous Baigas people's healthcare needs. The utilization of ethno-medicinal plants, which significantly contribute to human health, is one of the most important and significant ways that people directly benefit from biodiversity (Kumar et al, 2017d;Bijalwan et al, 2017Bijalwan et al, , 2019Kumar et al, 2021;Barya et al, 2022;Pandey et al, 2022;Rawat et al, 2022;Thakur et al, 2022a,b,c;Thakur et al, 2023). In most cases, they treat diseases that are common in the region, such as malaria, jaundice, fractures, coughs, stomach pains, dysentery, diarrhea, ringworm skin disease and many more.…”

“…It helps to quantify various lands, conservation management of endangered species, soil and water (Kumar et al, 2022). Vegetation analysis plays a very important role in adaptation of plants to future climate change (Pandey et al, 2022). Hence, the structural composition of forest vegetation has strong efficient role in regulating numerous and vital key ecosystem processes.…”

Qualitative analysis as a tool for reducing investment risks in post-mining areas located in urban structures

“…Since the Middle Ages, zinc and lead ores have been mined here, Poland’s first coal mine (1766) and Poland’s first power station (1898) were established here, and after World War II, large-scale piscina and raw materials for the cement industry were mined here. There are more than 50 sinkholes at the surface level (after coal mining) [ 24 ] of various sizes in the city [ 25 ]. Today, the city’s industrial character is defined by plans to launch three economic areas with a total area of more than 500 ha.…”

Spatiotemporal Differentiation Characteristics of Land Ecological Quality and Its Obstacle Factors in the Typical Compound Area of Mine Agriculture Urban

“…In recent years, researchers have conducted many studies on the ecological quality of mining land from different perspectives [3,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. For instance, Yu et al, investigated the influence of mining and climate change on the land ecosystem of the Gobi mining area in Western China by using the arid remote sensing ecological index based on remote sensing datafrom 2000 to 2020.…”

“…Their research results showed that the area under forest, agriculture-fallow, and water bodies fell by different degrees due mainly to conversion into degraded land, while the mining and built-up areas were proportionally enhanced between 1990 and 2020 in the coal-mining area located in northern Chhattisgarh, Central India. The intense mining resulted in the deterioration of soil health [12]. Based on Landsat TM data, Luise and Gläβer monitored the water quality data of lakes formed after the open-pit lignite mining in eastern Germany and revealed that the open-pit lignite mining has a negative effect on the ecological environment of the mining area [13].…”