Eco-restoration of coal mine overburden dump

Energy is needed for economic growth and more than 70% of the energy generation capacity in India is by using coal. The production of coal was 430.83 Mt out of which opencast contributed to around 373 Mt in 2006 with an estimated overburden removal of 600 million m3. In India, opencast mining is most prominent method of coal excavation. However, each year hundreds of acres of pristine forest and productive agricultural land are brought in the gambit of open cast coal mining. Moreover, open cast mining leaves behind a lot of over burden which is an environmental problem. Faced with a burgeoning population, agriculture in India must bring under its gambit the non-conventional or non-traditional area, to feed the teeming millions. Reclaimed coal mine areas could be the non-traditional areas. Among the two methods of restoration, physical methods are costly and not viable. Biological methods are of low cost hence most appropriate. Among biological technique using tree species to restore coal mine spoil holds great promise because it accelerate the soil-forming processes, control erosion, build up organic matter, develop microbial communities, initiate nutrient cycling, decreases air and water pollution, reduces geo-environmental disasters, maintain biodiversity and enhance overall aesthetics of the area.

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC

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