4.15.

Among the cement industries in the state, the highest cement production of 6,090
thousand tones per year was found in ACC Ltd, Wadi, Gulbarga district followed by Kesoram
Industries, Vasvadatta Cement, Sedam, Kalaburgi district with a production of 5,750 thousand
tonnes per year. Highest production of iron and steel, pig iron and sponge iron in the state was
found in JSW Steel Ltd. Vijaynagar, Ballari district (10,000 thousand tonnes per year
crude/liquid steel), Kirloskar Ferrous Industries Ltd. Bevinahalli, Koppal district (240 thousand
tonnes per year) and Janki Corp. Ltd, Sidiginamola, Ballari district (180 thousand tonnes per
year), respectively as mentioned in the Table 3.
Environmental impacts
4.16. Environmental impacts of mining and quarrying are due to disfigurement of land,
infrastructure development, displacement of persons, top soil removal, drilling and blasting,
overburden dumping, mineral processing, mineral beneficiation, mine water pumping, discharge
of toxic/contaminated waste water and mineral transportation. Mining and quarrying generally
have impacts on land, atmosphere, water regime, ecology and society.

Impact on Landscape
4.17. Land degradation is inevitable during mining particularly in open cast mining. Mining
impacts landscape by bringing about changes in topography and land scenario, land-use pattern,
drainage pattern, topsoil composition, run-off from overburden dumps, removal of vegetation,
etc. Mining is a temporary land use of the area. Land is required not only for excavation of the
mine pit and for laying approach/haul roads, but also for beneficiation plant, ore handling and
dispatch units, waste dumps, tailing ponds, etc. Land is also required for ancillary facilities and
statutory buildings (workshops, stores, offices, canteen, and crèche). In addition, residential
colony and related welfare amenities like school, hospital, shopping center, recreation center, etc.
require land. During mining and post-mining phases, drastic changes in landscape take place,
major impacts being soil erosion, loss of top soil, creation of waste dumps and voids, disposal of
wastes, etc. The impacts of iron ore mining on land are as outlined hereunder:

1. Topography and land scenario change due to excavation of open pits and dumping of
overburden rock mass in the form of land heaps.

2. The land-use pattern undergoes a change due to the use of land for mining, dumping and
other activities associated with mining.

3. The land-use in the surrounding areas may get affected due to the impacts of mining on
water regime and dust deposition.

4. Leached materials from overburden dumps and other rock masses affect the
characteristics of the topsoil affecting the land-use in the nearby areas.

5. In the mines having mineral concentration/processing plants, it is required to make

tailings pond to store the tailings generated from the processing plants. These tailing
ponds require massive area and may cause pollution of ground and surface water bodies,
if proper care is not taken.

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 6. The drainage pattern of the area undergoes a change due to the alterations in the surface
topography due to mining dump locations and associated activities.

4.18. It is evident from the above that the mining and associated activities can significantly
change the land use and drainage pattern of the region. These changes can be minimized by
carefully planning the surface layout of the mining areas and by integrating the environmental
aspects of each and every operation of mining activity.

4.19. Among all the states and union territories listed in Table-4 below, land degradation due to
mining/industrial waste was found to be the highest in Karnataka, the extent of affected area
being 51,000 ha accounting for 22.76% of the total degraded area in the country. Andhra Pradesh
comes next, the extent of degraded area being 39,000 ha (14.55% of the total degraded area).

Table-4: State-wise land degradation area

affected by Mining/Industrial waste in India
Source: NAAS (2010).

Name of State Land degradation due to

Mining/Industrial waste
(area in 1000 ha)
Karnataka 51
Andhra Pradesh 39
Tamil Nadu 34
Madhya Pradesh 24
Jharkhand 21
Maharashtra 16
Goa 12
Gujarat 12
Haryana 12
Odisha 8
Chattisgarh 7
West Bengal 7
Punjab 6
Uttar Pradesh 3
Bihar 2
Himachal Pradesh 1
Jammu & Kashmir 1
Kerala 1
Uttarakhand 1
Total (000 ha) 258
Total (m ha) 0.27

Land degradation
4.20. Most of the active mines in Karnataka are in Ballari, Tumkur, Chitradurga,
Chikkamagaluru, Koppal, Kalaburagi and Dakshina Kannada districts. The abandoned mines are
mainly in the districts of Chikkamagaluru, Bagalakot, Chitradurga, Kolar, Kalaburagi, Ballari,

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Impact on Ecology
4.24. Major impacts of mining on the local ecology are manifold. Mining necessitates removal
of vegetation (flora) from the area required for mining and other purposes thereby displacing
local fauna and affecting bio-diversity. Mining results in pollution of the water bodies in the
surrounding areas due to leaching from over burden (OB) dumps during the monsoon season.
Agricultural crops in the adjacent village lands and surrounding vegetation are adversely affected
by continuous deposition of dust and mine particles. Continuous exposure to dust and mine
particles is also a health hazard. Noise and vibration due to blasting and movement of heavy
machineries and transport vehicles have direct impact on human beings as well as wild animals.

Impact on Air Quality

4.25. Open-cast mining activities on top of the hills and in semi-arid conditions usually
contribute to high air pollution. Fine solid particles generated during drilling, blasting and
mining are carried away by the wind to nearby areas including habitations, agricultural lands,
forests, etc. Processing of minerals, especially dry crushing, grinding and screening increases air
pollution. Transportation of ore by road is another important factor responsible for air pollution
affecting all the areas through which the ore-laden trucks ply. Dust pollution poses serious
problem in most of the quarrying units. Dust generated by crushing units also affects nearby
habitations and agricultural lands. During the dry months, when there is constant breeze, the
villages suffer the most. The pre-monsoon southwesterly winds are strong in picking up the fine
dry dust and deposit them towards the east and northeastern sides of the quarry. Dust settles on
all areas including agricultural fields, households, public places, etc. Smaller dust particles
remain suspended in the air for longer time and cause more harm to human health.

4.26. The level air pollution in quarry operation is relatively less, as the method adopted is
manual and many quarries are small in size. Therefore, the SPM count in the air will normall not
increase. NO2, SO2 and CO values are expected to be within the permissible limits due to manual
quarrying.

Impact on Noise and Vibration

4.27. Mining related noise pollution is mainly because of excavation, drilling, blasting,
handling and transportation of ore and overburden and various operations of processing. Most of
these operations involve use of heavy machineries which emanate a lot of noise. Vehicular
movement also contributes to noise pollution. Disturbance from sound is the severest during
blasting of rocks while quarrying. Stone-crushers also generate considerable noise. Unlike dust,
the effect of sound is felt in all directions irrespective of wind direction. Inhabitants living nearer
to the mine or quarry, suffer more from sound pollution.

Impact on Water Quality

4.28. Dumping of waste material on steep slopes in higher altitudes without providing for
adequate safeguards against sliding, coupled with unscientific dumping on natural water courses
result in impairment/deterioration of water quality. The major causes of water pollution are
erosion of waste and sub-grade dumps, oil and grease, contamination of water bodies due to
discharge of mine water/effluent and sedimentation of the local seasonal streams flowing through
mine area. The direct and visible impact of water pollution due to mining is increase in siltation
and turbidity in water bodies. There are also possibilities of severe water contamination due to

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draining of toxic metals and acid originating from mines into water bodies. Oxidation of primary
minerals in the ore results in the formation of acids.

Impact on Soil Fertility

4.29. In opencast mining, several changes occur in physical, chemical and microbiological
properties of the soil as a result of excavation and dumping. Inability to preserve the topsoil is
one of the basic hindrances to restoration of mined land. Soil degradation and the decline in the
productive capacity of land resources is an immediate environmental concern. Open cast mining
renders the land unsuitable for any productive use in the future. It is almost impossible to restore
the area to its original status. It requires considerable time and resources to even reverse the
process of degradation.

4.30. Another serious impact of mining and quarrying is on the soil fertility of the adjoining
agricultural lands. Decrease in soil fertility in these areas takes place in two ways. Tons of wind-
blown dust and mine particles get accumulated on the agricultural and horticultural lands thereby
reducing the proportion of fertile soil. Secondly, during the monsoon season, large volumes of
water mixed with soil and mine waste drain out of the mines and inundate the nearby agricultural
and horticultural lands which are generally located in the valleys of the natural water courses.
The waste material gets deposited on the lands, reducing the soil fertility. Entry of toxic minerals
and acids along with water can further damage the agricultural and horticultural lands.

Impact on Aquatic Life

4.31. Mining greatly impacts the aquatic life present in water bodies located in and around the
mining area. Increase in siltation results in drying of the water bodies which directly affects the
aquatic life cycle. Increase in water turbidity reduces penetration of light into water thereby
affecting aquatic plant life which in turn affects aquatic fauna. Chemical contamination of water
due to minerals and acids can wipe out the entire aquatic life.

Loss of flora and fauna

4.32. In open cast mining, land is completely cleared of vegetation. In addition to clearing of
forest for the mining pits, substantial forest area is also required to be cleared for dumping the
overburden. Quite often, sliding dump results in submergence of forest growth. Forest is also
cleared or damaged due to formation of roads, formation of stock yards, construction of
buildings, etc. Forest areas adjoining to a mine get damaged because of mining related activities.
Besides, the forest on either side of the road along which the ore is transported by trucks gets
severely affected due to continuous pollution by dust and mine particles. Loss of vegetation
affects the resident wildlife population which either gets killed or is driven out due to
deforestation. Wildlife is very vulnerable in forest areas having cluster of mines, as it severely
restricts the free movement of animals.

Impact on roads
4.33. In Karnataka, a significant portion of mined ore and all quarried material (granite, stones,
and sand) are transported by road. This causes a lot of damage to the roads. Such damage was
very severe in Ballari district during the peak mining season (2002-2009) when thousands of ore-
laden trucks used to move along the forest roads, village roads, district roads and national

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