Coal mining: Land degradation and reclamation status in India Dr. Pulak Das HSE Coordinator, Geopetrol Int.

Inc., email: pulak.das@geopetrol.net Introduction Mining has been defined as the removal of minerals from the earths crust in the service of humans (Down & Stock 1978). Mining and industrialization play an important role in national economy. Mining industry in India, second largest to agriculture, is one of the largest providers of employment and accounted for about 2.3% of the total GDP. India produces 64 minerals and the distribution value of mineral production in the year 2000-2001 shows that fuel accounts for about 83% (solid fuels 37% and liquid/gaseous 46%), metallic minerals about 7%, non-metallic minerals about 3% and remaining by minor minerals. The coal resources of India are available in sedimentary rocks of older Gondwana Formations of peninsular India and younger Tertiary formations of north-eastern/northern hilly region. Coal remains the primary source of energy, accounting for about 80% of total Sectoral use of coal in India energy generation in the country. Relatively clean, underground mines occupied more than 70% share of coal extraction before nationalization. Gradually, more and more open cast mines were opened to balance the Power, demand/supply ratio and at present, they dominate with 80% share. In India 72% 55%, of energy need is fulfilled by coal. Out of total mining, 80% is only done for coal while remaining 20% is for other raw materials such as gold, Others, copper, iron, lead, bauxite, zinc and uranium. For electricity generation in 19% India, coal has been recognized as the most important source of energy. The coal reserves of India up to the depth of 1200 m have been estimated Cement, by the Geological Survey of India at 267.21 billion tonnes as on April 1, 2009 4% Steel, of which 106 billion tonnes are proven. Hard coal deposits spread over 27 5% major coalfields are mainly confined to eastern and south central parts of India. According to the International Energy Agencys (IEA) World Energy Outlooks business-as-usual (BAU) scenario, India and China presently account for 45 percent of world coal use and will be responsible for over three-quarters of the increase by 2030. Coal remains Indias most important fuel and predominantly used to generate electricity. Coals share in power generation is predicted to increase from todays 69 percent to 71 percent by 2030. History of coal mining The first published reference to the mining of 600 Coal production in India in last 150 years coal in India dates back to the year 1774 478.18 500 r = 0.735 (Gee 1940), during the time of Warren Hastings, when permission to work coal 400 mines in Bengal was accorded to 300 300 JohnSumner and Suetonius Grant Heatly (M/s Sumner and Heatly of East India 200 Company). The first two mining areas were 70 100 Aitura (Ethora) at Chinakuri near Damodar 33 29 30 55.67 6.12 1 River and Damulia (Nega Raniganj seam), 18 0 also near Damodar. 1850 1870 1890 1910 1930 1950 1970 1990 2010 The foundation for mass coal production in India was laid in 1886, when Year the Hyderabad Deccan Company was incorporated to exploit coal in Yellanadi area in Andhra Pradesh. The company was later renamed as SCCL and brought under Government control in 1945. For about a century after mining in Bengal the growth of Indian coal mining remained sluggish for lack of demand. Introduction of steam locomotives in 1853 increased the production in an exponential manner. Within a short span, production rose to an annual average of 1 million tonne (mt) and by 1900 it reached 6.12 mts. The production got a sudden boost from the First World War and reached 30 mts by 1946. The production rose to 70 mts, 300 mts, and ultimately to 478.18 mts in 1970, 1999, and 2007 respectively. Setting up of the National Coal Development Corporation (NCDC), a Government of India
Coal produciton (million tonne)

Undertaking in 1956 with the collieries owned by the railways as its nucleus was the first major step towards planned development of Indian Coal Industry along with the Singareni Collieries Company Ltd. (SCCL) which was already in operation since 1945 and which became a Government company under the control of Government of Andhra Pradesh in 1956. The nationalization of coal mines was done in two phases, the first with the coking coal mines in 1971-72 and then with the non-coking coal mines in 1973. Types of coal mining Coal is extracted either through underground mining or surface mining, also known as opencast mining. When coal seams are near the surface, the coal is extracted using open cut or open cast mining methods. In this mining method, explosives are first use in order to break through the surface of the mining area. The coal is then removed by draglines or by shovel and truck. Some coal seams are too deep underground for opencast mining and require underground mining, which method currently accounts for about 60% of world coal production. In deep mining, the room and pillar or board and pillar method progresses along the seam, while pillars and timber are left standing to support the mine roof. Some of the specified techniques being used earlier and at present in India are as follows: Mechanised opencast mining (for extraction of thick seams at shallow depth). Bord and Pillar method of underground mining (manual). Blasting Gallery and Cable Bolting. Continuous minor technology (for 60% to 70% extraction) Long wall mining technology (for 70% to 80% recovery) Sand stowing method (for coal seams lying below built up areas) Coal resource There are more than 800 coal mines in India. It occupies 3rd position in the world in the Coal field of coal production. As a result of exploration carried out up to the maximum depth deposits of 1200m by the GSI, CMPDI and MECL etc, a cumulative total of 267.21 Billion tonnes in India of Geological Resources of Coal have so far been estimated in the country as on 1.4.2009. Raniganj coal belt is an important coalfield located in Damodar river valley. Ranigunj Coalfields covers an area of 1530 sq km spreading over Burdwan, Birbhum, Bankura and Purulia Districts in West Bengal and Dhanbad District in Jharkhand. The lignite reserves in India are estimated at around 36 billion tonnes, of which 90% occur in the southern State of Tamil Nadu. 4150 million tonnes (mt) spread over 480 sq km is in the Neyveli Lignite fields in Cuddalore District of which around 2360 Mt have been proved. Geological reserves of about 1168 mof lignite have been identified in Jayamkondacholapuram of Trichy District of Tamilnadu. In Mannargudi and East of Veeranam, geological reserves of around 22661.62 Mt and 1342.45 mt of lignite have been estimated respectively. Other states where lignite deposits have been located are Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Pondicherry. As on 01.04.2007, lignite reserves in the country have been estimated at around 38.76 billion tonnes, most of which, occur in Tamilnadu. Other states where lignite deposits have been located are Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Pondicherry.

270000 Million tonnes 260000 250000 240000 230000

Coal resource of India (Total of Proved, Indicated, and Inferred)

267210 264535 257381

240748 234114

245693

247847

253301 255172

1. 1. 20 02 1. 1. 20 03 1. 1. 20 04 1. 1. 20 05 1. 1. 20 06 1. 1. 20 07 1. 4. 20 07 1. 4. 20 08 1. 4. 20 09

As on

Reserve (million tonne)

70000 60000 50000

44483 39480 30894

8041 10295 2645 20981 5255 2907 1992 10154 89 17 471 577 9 0 13 22 19944 31484 13799

9194 6748 2985 18927 31 40 19 90 348 36 3 387 0 0 160 160 10910 29192 4381

65227

80000

Proved Indicated Inferred Total

76712

90000

Coal reserves in different states of India as on 2009

40000 30000 20000 10000 0

Jharkhand

Bihar

Orissa

Uttar Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh

Chhattisgarh

Maharashtra

Meghalaya

Arunachal Pradesh

Nagaland

Assam

Sikkim

0 58 43 101 866 196 0 1062

States

Acquisition of All Rights & Mining Rights under the CBA Act since nationalization by some of the countries major coal companies up to December 2006 is given below: Acquisition of all rights & mining rights by major coal companies

Area acquired till Dec 2006

200000 180000 160000 140000 120000 Ha 100000 80000 60000 40000 20000 0 ECL BCCL CCL WCL SECL MCL NCL Total Companies 6008 1182.46 35844.06 38157.87 22149.78 14673 61517.34 179532.51

ECL Eastern Coalfields Limited; BCCL Bharat Coking Coal Limited; CCL Central Coalfields Limited; WCL Western Coalfields Limited; SECL South Eastern Coalfields Limited; MCL Mahanadi Coalfields Limited;NCLNorthernCoalfieldsLimited

Issue of land degradation As defined by UNEP (1992) land degradation is the temporary or permanent lowering of the productive capacity of land. The soil is a very complex medium which displays a great diversity in physical appearance, in chemical process, and in the flora and fauna present. The role of soil is of vital importance to mankind and the maintenance of a healthy natural environment. The soil is a natural resource, which is not renewable in the short term and very expensive either to reclaim or to improve once it is eroded by water or wind, physically degraded or chemically depleted (Oldeman 1998). The increasing human need for mineral resources is likely to accelerate further degradation of natural habitats, as most of the mining areas are on the land which was previously occupied by forests. In removing the desired mineral

West Bengal

11653 11603 5071

6338

28327

material the vegetation above is destroyed and the soil is lost or buried by waste, ultimately leading to complete absence of soil in either pedological of biological sense leaving behind a skeleton of soil with full of limiting factors (Bradshaw 1983). As a result of mining and coal combustion, significant areas of land are degraded and existing ecosystems are replaced by undesirable waste materials in the form of dumps, tailing dams and ash dams (Piha et al 1995). According to Corbett et al. (1996) the mineral extraction process drastically alters the physical and biological nature of a mined area. Strip-mining, commonly practiced to recover coal reserves, destroys vegetation, causes extensive soil damage and destruction and alters microbial communities. The Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) opines that surface mining may result in constant decline of green and cultivable areas which is by way of blockage of land for mining and allied activities. As estimated by IBM, this degradation is to the tune of 60% by waste dumping, 23% by pit excavation and 17% by others (Singh et al. 2007). The dumping of mine tailings and other reject materials (referred to as overburden, OB) generated from opencast coal or metal mines is considered as a major contributor to the ecological and environmental degradation. OB materials are nutrient-poor, loosely adhered particles of shale, stones, boulders, cobbles, and so forth and are devoid of true soil character. Mine OB materials also contain elevated concentrations of trace metals. Consequently, ecological succession in a mine OB is a lengthy process (Dowarah et al. 2009). . Un-reclaimed or poorly reclaimed lands are often barren, because problematic soil material left on the surface after mining would not support plant growth (Sutton & Dick 1987). This creates problems, as waste dumps can be unsightly and subject to erosion and leaching if left un-vegetated. There is an urgent need to reclaim and restore the mined out land for its productive use for sustainable development of the coal mining. This will not only mitigate environmental degradation, but would help in creating a more congenial environment for land acquisition in future. Land degradation in India All human activities are based on the land which is most scarce natural resource in our country. Per capita land availability in India is the lowest owing to high population density and less land mass. Out of total 329 million hectare (mha) land mass of the country, coal mining is limited to only on 0.10% (0.36mha) area. As per XI Plan, to meet the energy demand of the country, coal production would be raised to 680 million tones by the end of the year 2011-2012 for which about 40,000 hectare of land would have to be acquired for coal mining projects. It has been envisaged that 85% coal production would be from opencast mines, which causes land degradation due to ground breaking. India's total land area is 3.29 million sq km, and within this, 20.16% of the total geographical area is occupied by the degraded land (Kiran et al. 2009). About 0.45 % of the total (about 16,000 sq km) is coal-bearing. Of this coal-bearing area, the active coal-mining area is about 2,500 sq km. Underground production of coal peaked in the late 1970s, and has gradually declined since. Surface mining, on the other hand, has gone up from l6 million tonnes per annum (tpa) to 160 million tpa. According to a financial daily Business Line (Internet edition, July 5, 2000) as much as 1,40,771 hectares of the total coal area is under surface mining. Additionally, 57,000 hectares of land will be required, of which 13,000 hectares are in forestland. According to Kundu and Ghose (1997), by 2000 about 60 km2 of land per year were damaged by direct coal mines and 75 km2 per year were affected by external overburden dumps and topsoil dumps in India. Excessive underground mining, especially of coal, is causing subsidence of land in many areas as a result of which such lands have been rendered unsafe for habitation, agriculture and grazing. In 1980s the coal mining industry became identified as a major cause of damage to the environment, with more than 80 sq. kms. of land being destroyed every year. Damage to land can also result from underground and stockyard fires in coal mining areas. Land reclamation In the majority of cases, reclamation of abandoned mineral workings requires the establishment and maintenance of vegetation on disturbed land. No other medium can achieve rapid visual integration, surface stabilization, or reduction in air and water pollution, nor offer a wide variety of land-use possibilities, which can be achieved at acceptable cost. Based on several ecosystem restoration studies, A. D. Bradshaw, the pioneer restoration ecologist, concluded that vegetation is the most appropriate and cost effective long- term remedy to encounter the majority of underlying problems of derelictmined land. Ecological restoration (ER) is the process of repairing damage caused by humans to the diversity and dynamics of indigenous ecosystems. ER implies that we wish to restore organisms and their interactions with one another and with the physical environment. It concentrates on processes such as persistence of species through natural recruitment and survival, functioning food webs, system-wide nutrient conservation via relationships among plants, animals and the detrivore (who eats waste material) community. The goal of restoration is usually to develop a long-term sustainable ecosystem native to the area where mining occurred. Restoration (=rehabilitation) aims to return the degraded system to some form of cover that is protective, productive, aesthetically pleasing, or valuable in the sense of conservation.

Revegetation of mined out areas is often difficult due to its chemical and physical traits. Absence of topsoil is the most common feature of the mine spoils or dumps. If present, it is very poor in nitrogen, which is essential for plant growth. This is due to the absence of soil organic matter provided by decay of dead plant material. Moreover, dearth of soil micro flora restricts the decay of plant material. In addition, the stony nature of mine wastes aggravates the situation further for vegetation establishment by developing low infiltration rates and water retention. Since the progress of natural vegetation process is very slow on mine spoils, selective plantation of suitable native species is desired in most cases. In common practice, mining engineers, generally unguided by any ecological principle prefer to establish some greenery on wasteland. However, the development of a permanent vegetation cover should aim to establish a plant community that will maintain itself indefinitely without attention or artificial aid, and support native fauna. To extract better results, some ecological variables must be considered while selecting species for plantation. These are; their capacity to stabilize soil, increases soil organic matter and available soil nutrients, and facilitate under storey development. In the initial stages of revegetation quick growing grasses with short life cycle, legumes and forage crops are recommended. It will improve the nutrient and organic matter content in soil. Plantation of mixed species of economic importance should be done after 2-3 years of growing grasses. Work is going on in this field and experts are providing different solutions based upon the situation. Addition of organic wastes has been found to increase N fertility at a surface coal mine reclamation site, which ultimately stimulates microbial activity and improves the chemical and physical properties of the reclaimed soil (Coyne et al. 1998). Direct seeding of native species has proved a most useful and cost-effective restoration method (Pandey 1996, 1998). This can be avoided by opting for direct sowing. Direct sowing is also advantageous as it is comparatively easier to maintain the species mix than in a plantation (Pandey 2002). As suggested by Singh et al. (2007), assessment of premining land use of the area and surroundings, and of the pre-mining surface drainage pattern is an important step for, and comprehensive land reclamation and land use planning. Use of medicinal plants for reclaiming degraded land is also a good option (Kiran et al. 2009). Pandey (2002) argues that to restore mine overburden, a broader vision that incorporates holistic science and policy is called for. Sustainable science is required to address the imperilled naturesociety interactions as well as to construct a selfsustaining functional ecosystem capable of supporting biodiversity, performing ecosystem functioning and providing ecosystem services to society. He suggested a holistic strategy for restoration of mine-spoil including the following: (i) Policy measures and incentive mechanism to store fertile top-soil layer for use in postmining restoration operation, (ii) protection to adjacent refugia, remnant vegetation and ancient trees, (iii) attracting seed dispersers, (iv) rainwater harvesting, (v) assisted soil remediation through addition of pond-bed silt and sediment as well as earthworm, (vi) assistance to available persistent rootstock, if any, (vii) direct seeding, (viii) vegetative cutting, and (ix) plantations. Success stories in India In India, the amount of mine OB wasteland generated due to opencast coal mining is enormous (Dowarah et al. 2009). This necessitates initiation of restoration of the degraded environment. According to WWF report, in India, mining land is frequently left in an abused state, in unclosed or abandoned mines. Considering the severe consequences of mining for communities and local environments, it is essential that steps be taken to reduce degradation of land. Although land reclamation is presently not a priority in India there are many success stories of ecorestoration in India (Tiwary 2001; Pal 2003; Ghose 2004; Maiti 2007; Juwarkar and Jumbalkar 2008), and around the world (Cunningham and Berti 1993; Mendez and Maier 2008; Gonzalez and Gonzalez-Chavez 2006; Wong 2003), and World wide there has been a tremendous upsurge in restoration as a technique for reversing habitat degradation worldwide. Centre for Applied Research & Development (CARD) is the in house R&D Centre of Neyveli Lignite Corporation and has been recognized by the Department of Science & Technology since 1975. CARD is carrying out various research works on wasteland reclamation etc. CARD is also carrying out various environmental Survey and ecological conservation of Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) environment through bioremediation with tree species (Approved Cost Rs.77.01 Lakhs.). It is also proposed to study phyto-remediation efficiency of the existing green belt of NLC to air borne Contaminants and soil borne contaminants. The Project commenced on 01-05-2007 with project duration of three years. Preliminary discussions were held and Research staffs recruited under the project were given orientation training. Survey for fixing thirty two sampling locations and four to five tree species in each location, using GPS, has been completed. In NLC a project was carried out to characterize and evaluate bottom slag as a source of Sulphur and iron to crops and bio dissolution studies. It was also envisaged to develop methods to use bottom slag as a source of Sulphur to crops in Sulphur deficient soils and as a source of Iron to sugarcane in calcareous iron deficient soils. Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) has also conducted field trials with bottom slag in farmers field at Trichy, Vridhachallam, Villupuram, Erode and Coimbatore on paddy, sugarcane, groundnut, sunflower etc and found to be beneficial. The projects related to land degradation which are under implementation are bringing transformation through integrated farming system and pilot studies on the stabilization, revegetation and restoration of ecology in NLC mine slopes. (NLC and TNAU/Coimbatore). In Jharia coal fields, existing plantation programmes and social forestry

programmes are encouraged. Plantation work in 278 hectare of degraded land has been done at Lodna, Bhowrah, Sijua, Govindpur and Barora areas (approx 6.95 lakhs saplings have been planted). The work has been completed and completion report is awaited. Plantation is started in 125 Ha in this year. The Subsidiaries of CIL have been undertaking development of Green belts. The plantation is done on waste and reclaimed land. During 2006-2007 the Coal Companies have planted 24.90 Lakh trees. During 2006-07, SCCL has taken up planting in 252 Ha on overburden dump, 275 Ha of the planting on the surface area of UG mines and 24 KM of avenue plantation. In addition, 56782 seedlings of horticulture and afforestation species are distributed for planting in colonies, homesteads and institutions. In addition 27 parks and 98 gardens are maintained in the company premises for providing clean, green working and living Comparison of mining area, vegetation, and environment for all. A project was initiated in 2005wasteland in 5 projects of SECL as on 2008 06 by Bhagalpur University for reclamation of Dipka Gevra mining wastelands and restoration of native vegetation through microbial technology in 18% 26% 40% Rajmahal Coalfields. Ledo Valley Recreation 42% Center (LVRC), an Eco-park in NEC is a reclaimed mine in the leasehold of Ledo Colliery of NEC. The 42% 32% production of mine was stopped in 1986 and its reclamation work started in 1987. Spread over an area of 21 hectares it has over 40 species of plants Manikpur Dhanpuri and home to many migratory birds. The plantation 23% 0% 33% and conservation of lakes forms an ideal ecological 44% balance in the area. Central Mine Planning & Design Institute 77% 23% (CMPDI) Ranchi, a subsidiary of CIL has a well equipped remote sensing facilities and capabilities to develop an effective system of surveillance for Dugga land reclamation/restoration for all the opencast 1% coal mines. It is the executive agency for satellite 41% surveillance of land reclamation operations. 171 open cast coal projects have been identified for 58% surveillance out of which 49 projects will be monitored once a year while the remaining 122 Vegetation Mining area Wasteland projects will be monitored once every three years. As of 2009 45 projects have been covered. CMPDI undertook five projects of land reclamation of South Eastern Coalfields Ltd.; Dipka, Gevra, Manikpur, Dhanpuri, and Dugga in year 2008. These projects were taken up for land restoration/reclamation monitoring based on the RESOURCESAT-1 satellite data using ERDAS Imaging digital image processing s/w in GIS platform. Land reclamation monitoring will be carried out regularly on annual basis to assess the progressive status of land restoration/reclamation in the above opencast mines. Out of the above five projects, land use map for Gevra, Dipka, and Manikpur were also prepared during year 2003 which was used for the comparison. The above figure (CMPDI 2008) shows the status of land use with the jurisdiction of the company in year 2008 and the following table shows the increase in area. Area (km2) in two different years and % increase Project Dipka Plantation Vegetation Gevra Plantation Vegetation Manikpur Plantation Vegetation 2003 0.56 3.66 2.43 4.26 2.11 6.5 2008 2.67 6.17 6.08 11.21 2.18 6.83 % Increase 376.79 68.58 150.21 163.15 3.32 5.08

The study reveals that 61% of mined out area in the above mentioned projects have been reclaimed by (South Eastern Coalfields Limited) SECL and balance 39% area is under active mining zone. It is observed that Dipka area showed an increase of over 376% in the plantation cover in five years, and Gevra shows an increase in 150% in plantation and about 163% increase in vegetation. Manikpur area showed very less increase (about 3 and 5 %) respectively in plantation and vegetation cover as compared to other two areas. Conclusion Mining operations, which involve minerals extraction from the earths crust tends to, make a notable impact on the environment, landscape and biological communities of the earth (Down & Stocks, 1997 and Bell et al. 2001). It can be said that the land restoration/reclamation is an inseparable part of the coal mining. It is important to save our precious, but scarce land resource. This is more important in context of rapid increase in population. The land degradation is a chain event which once triggered and if not prevented in time, leads to many related environmental and socioeconomic problems. The issue of land reclamation should be incorporated in the planning phase itself with sufficient financial allocation. It is an irony that the Coal industry (CIL) which is one of the 5 largest companies (2003-2004) with respect to turn over, largest company in the world in terms of coal production, is placed under the red category, meaning it is in the top bracket of environmental degradation (Chaoji 2002). As said earlier, there are numerous success stories around the world and also in India regarding the reclamation of degraded land. We can convert the waste into resource by reclaiming the degraded land and use it for plantation (of cash generating crops for e.g. medicinal plants), rehabilitation of the native displaced people (who will love to come back to their land), and intensive afforestation program etc. Reference Annual Report: 2005-06, Ministry of Coal, Government of India. Annual Report: 2006-07, Ministry of Coal, Government of India. Annual Report: 2007-08, Ministry of Coal, Government of India. Bradshaw, A. D. 1983.J. Appl. Ecol.20:117. Chaoji, V. 2002 Environmental challenges and the future of Indian coal; J. Mines, Metals and Fuels 11:257262. CMPDI. 2008. Land restoration/reclamation monitoring of Open cast coal mines of South Eastern Coal fields Limited Based on Satellite Data for the Year 2008. Remote sensing cell, Geomatics Division, CMPDI, Ranchi. Corbett, E. A., Anderson, R. C., & Rodgers, C. S. 1996. Restor. Ecol.4:346354. Coyne, M. S., Zhai, Q., MacKown, C. T. & Barnhisel, R. I.1998. Soil Biol. Biochem. 30:10991106. Cunningham, S. D., & Berti, W. R. 1993. The remediation of contaminated soils with green plants: An overview; In: Vitro Cell. Deve. Biol., J. Tissue Cult. Assoc. 29:207212. Dowarah, J., Deka Boruah, H. P., Gogoi, J., Pathak, N., Saikia, N., & Handique, A.K. 2009. Eco-restoration of a high-sulphur coal mine overburden dumping site in northeast India: A case study. J. Earth Syst. Sci. 118 (5):597 608. Fyles, J.W., Fyles, L. H., & Bell, M. A. M.1985. Vegetation and soil development on coal mine spoil at high elevation in the Canadian Rockies. Journal of Applied Ecology 22:239-248. Gee, E. R. 1940. History of Coal mining in India. VI (3) Geological Survey of India. Ghosh, R. 1989. Mining in Jharia coal field, Eastern India: An estimation of its impact index. Journal Geological Society of India 33:353-360. Gonzalez, R. C. & Gonzalez-Chavez, M. C. A. 2006. Metal accumulation in wild plants surrounding mining wastes: Soil and sediment remediation (SSR); Environ. Poll. 144:8492. Ghose, M. K. 2004. Effect of opencast mining on soil fertility. J. Sci. Indust. Res. 63:10061009. Juwarkar, A. A., & Jumbalkar, H. P. 2008. Phytoremediation of coal mine spoil dump through integrated biotechnological approach. Biores. Technol. 99:47324741. Kiran., Kudesia, R., Rani, M., & Pal, A. 2009. Reclaiming Degraded Land in India Through the Cultivation of Medicinal Plants. Botany Research International 2(3):174-181. Koshal, A. K. Environmental Problems Analysis of Coal Mining in Raniganj & Asansol Blocks (West Bengal) Using Remote Sensing and GI S. GIS Development, Map World Forum, Hyderabad, India. Kundu, & Ghose. 1997. Centre of Mining Environment, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad. Maiti, S. K. 2007. Bioremediation of coalmine overburden dumps with special emphasis in micronutrients and heavy metals accumulation in tree species. Environ. Monit. Assess. 125:111122. Mendez, M. O. & Maier, R. M. 2008. Phytostabilization of mine tailings in arid and semiarid environments An emerging remediation technology. Environ. Health Prospect. 116:278283.

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Web sites http://coal.nic.in/abtcoal.htm http://www.cpcbenvis.nic.in/newsletter/cleancoal-june2000/jun2000iss.htm http://www.ismenvis.nic.in/douknow.pdf http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/minerals/coal-mines.gif http://www.mapsofworld.com/business/industries/coal-energy/india_coal_deposits.jpg http://www.sacw.net/article302.html http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/businessline/2000/07/05/stories/040567mp.htm