Forest landscape restoration of open cast mining around Muraidih (Dhanbad) Jharkhand
Student name: Ms Tulika Rawat
Guide: Dr Sudipta Chatterjee
Year of completion: 2016
Host Organisation: TERI University
Abstract: Coal mining adversely affects the eco-system as a whole. Coal is recognized to have been the main source of energy in India for many decades and contributes to nearly 27% of the world’s commercial energy requirement (Saxena et al., 2000). Coal is mainly mined using two methods - surface or ‘opencast’ and underground mining. The present study is a part of a TERI University initiative in restoring reclaimed open cast mines at Muraidih, Dhanbad. The main objective of the present study is to undertake studies for analysis of the overburden water and soil samples collected from the project area and study the vegetation around the mining area for ecorestoration. Studies undertaken for this thesis show that the available minerals in the soil and water samples collected were found to be within a permissible limits as per the parameters set by IS: 10500. Germination experiments on native tree species from the region performed at TERI University showed that out of 19, only 8 species germinated in mine soil. These are Aegle marmelos, Annona squamosa, Albizia odoratissima, Bauhinia purpurea, Ceiba pentendra, Dalbergia sisoo, Dendrocalamus hamiltonii and Peltophorum pterocarpum. A strategy for development of the nursery for restoration was also prepared.
Keywords: Coal mining, Sample analysis, Vegetation analysis, Nursery development, Restoration
