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Environmental issues of coal mining - A case study of Jharia coal-field, India

Conference Paper · October 2015

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.4363.8805

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 Environmental issues of coal mining -
A case study of Jharia coal-field, India

Saini, V.
Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee-247667, Ut-
tarakhand, India. Email: varinder126@gmail.com
Gupta, R. P.
Professor(retired), Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Ro-
orkee-247667, Uttarakhand, India
Arora, M. K.
Director, PEC University of Technology, Sector-12, Chandigarh-160012, India

Abstract

Jharia coal-field holds unequivocal importance in the Indian context as it is the only source of prime
coking coal in the country. Haphazard mining over nearly a century has led to environmental changes to
a large extent such as degradation in quality of air, water, soil, changes in landform, land use/land cover,
vegetation distribution. Jharia is also infamous for widespread development of surface and subsurface
fires due to unsustainable mining practices. These fires are burning over nearly a century and are a major
cause of air pollution, loss of vegetation and subsidence. The paper outlines the environmental issues
related to coal mining in Jharia coalfield, Jharkhand. For studying changes in vegetation pattern over the
years, Landsat TM data has been used. Analysis of vegetation index (NDVI) indicates that during the
years 2004-2011, dense vegetation has decreased and sparse vegetation has increased. The utility of field
based data along with remote sensing data in such studies has been emphasized.

1. Introduction:

Coal is one of the most abundantly available fossil fuels around the globe which meets
a major part of the energy need for human consumption. It is used in various industries
such as power, steel, cement, alumina refineries, as well as for domestic purposes. India
is the third largest coal producer in the world after China and USA. Coal mining and
related activities provide huge energy resource; however, these adversely affect the
environment of the area by digging and causing deforestation.

The first published record of coal mining in India dates back to the year 1774 in coal
mines in Bengal. The main coal fields in India are: Jharia, Raniganj, Singareni, Talcher,
Neyveli, Singrauli, Nagpur and Chandrapur. Out of these, Jharia coalfield (JCF) is In-
dia’s most important storehouse of prime coking coal that feeds major percentage of
our industrial demand. Economically, JCF produces largely bituminous coal. Jharia has
a long history of mining, which started towards the end of the 19th century (Gee, 1940).
The mining activities intensified in Jharia in 1920’s and thereafter it has been growing
extensively and exponentially. At present, there are around 35 large underground and
opencast mines in the JCF.

Like any other large coal mining area, over the last century, JCF has also undergone a
sea-change affecting the environment. The coal mining has affected air, water and soil
resources, topography, land use/land cover (LULC), vegetation patterns and has also
led to the infamous coal mine fires that have remained active underground for more
than a century. The first coal fire was detected in 1916. These fires constitute a major
cause of hazard and have also been spoiling the precious natural resource. The present

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study aims at outlining the environmental issues prevalent in JCF as per the works
reported by other workers and also includes some specific remote sensing data based
analysis by the authors.

2. Study Area and Data Used:

The JCF is located in Dhanbad district of Jharkhand state, India. The coal-field is a
sickle-shaped terrain and covers about 450 sq km area confined between latitude 23°
38’ N - 23° 50’ N and longitude 86° 07’ E - 86° 30’ E, with an average elevation of
about 220 m above mean sea level (msl). The location and geological map of the area
is shown in Figure 1.

For studying the temporal variation of vegetation over the years, Landsat TM data of
years 2004 and 2011 has been used. The image data were taken from the same month
(November) to avoid seasonal variation. FLAASH module in ENVI software was used
to correct the data for atmospheric effects. Normalized difference vegetation index
(NDVI) was then calculated using ERDAS Imagine software.

Figure 1(a) Location map; (b) Geological map of JCF

3. Environmental Issues in JCF:

3.1 Air Pollution:

In the JCF, air pollution due to coal fires is also a severe problem. The major pollutants
are oxides of N and S, fine coal dust, suspended particulate matter, respirable particu-
late matter, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and benzene soluble matter. The major
sources are blasting and drilling operations, coal fires, vehicular traffic, heavy trucks
plying on haul roads, loading/unloading of coal, wind erosion from overburden (OB)
dumps. Most of the dust is categorized into respirable particulate matter (RPM) which
causes diseases of lungs and skin such as asthma and chronic bronchitis (Ghosh 2000a,
b). The soot and particulate matter released from coal mine fires decrease the visibility
in the area. Also, coal fires volatilize a large number of potentially harmful heavy met-
als like arsenic, selenium, mercury, lead, sulphur and fluorine. These could condense on
dust particles and get inhaled or ingested by the local people or they could gain entry to
local water bodies and thus enter food chain causing severe diseases (Finkelman 2004).
There have been documented reports of stroke, pulmonary heart disease and chronic

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obstructive pulmonary disease due to air pollution. Heavy metals along with PAHs can
cause a number of ill effects on health like cancer, neurotoxicity, cardiotoxicity, im-
munotoxicity, arsenosis, fluorosis, CO poisoning etc. (Finkelman et al. 2002; Jha et al.
2010). Some field photographs showing the environmental problems prevalent in JCF
are shown in Picture 1.

3.2 Water Pollution:

The factors responsible for causing water pollution include drainage from mining sites,
sediment runoff from mining site, erosion from OB dumps and spoils heaps, leaking
from tailing ponds/OB dumps, heated and heavy metals loaded effluents from coal in-
dustries and sewage effluents. Mine water discharged from underground mines has high
hardness due to dissolved sulphates and chlorides (Tiwary 2001). It has been reported
that water bodies have been severely polluted in JCF. Huge volumes of polluted water
from underground mines are channelled into the Damodar thus polluting it chemical-
ly. Apart from actual mining activities, coal beneficiation and preparation plants also
release a large amount of water effluents in the river which poses a threat to aquatic
ecosystem and prevailing biodiversity (Singh and Gupta 2005). Mining also affects the
groundwater. Continuous pumping out of mine water may lead to lowering of ground-
water table in the region. Besides, there is a scarcity of potable water due to both,
increased demand and contamination. Some parameters such as total dissolved solids
(TDS), Fe, nitrite, hardness, conductivity, heavy metals in the surface and groundwater
exceed the defined quality standards (Abhishek et al. 2006; Singh et al. 2012).

3.3 Soil Pollution:

In JCF, soil is polluted due to strip mining as it involves removal of top soil, wind ero-
sion from OB dumps, coal heaps, tailing ponds, dust generated due to heavy machinery
used for extracting coal, burning of coal, loading and unloading of coal as this dust
settles on nearby areas. Soil has poor texture, low organic matter, and exhibits change
in nutrient content due to heavy metal toxicity, change in pH and electrical conduc-
tivity. Also, the soil above the fire areas is devoid of moisture and is baked making
it biologically sterile (Singh 2004). The soil friendly organisms (bacteria, nematodes,
earthworms, etc.) die under such harsh conditions, thus limiting the ability of the soil
to support vegetation. The existing vegetation also dries up and ultimately dies due to
the lack of water and other nutrients. Thus, it is observed that soils have poor potential
for plant growth in JCF.

3.4 Changes in Vegetation Pattern:

In a coal mining area, vegetation is directly affected by both opencast mining and un-
derground mining. Satellite data offers help in quantifying the changes in vegetation
pattern. NDVI images derived from satellite data can be used as a criterion for deter-
mining changes in terms of vegetation in an area. In order to have an estimate of tempo-
ral variations of NDVI in JCF over the years, a study was carried out using Landsat TM
images of 2004 and 2011. NDVI is considered as a good indicator of vegetation vigour,
density and health in an area. It is based on vegetation reflectance and is derived as:

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NDVI =

where Red and NIR are the spectral reflectance of vegetation in the red band and the
near infrared band respectively. Its values range from -1 to +1 where -1 corresponds
to water and barren surfaces and +1 to very dense forests (Rouse et al. 1973). NDVI
images were density sliced to show distribution of: a) water, b) barren areas, c) sparse
vegetation, d) moderate vegetation, and e) dense vegetation (Figure 2). The bar dia-
gram corresponding to the above areal distributions are shown in Figure 3 for each
NDVI category. It can be seen that the dense vegetation has drastically decreased from
2004-2011. Further, with respect to 2004, there is decrease in moderate vegetation and
increase in sparse vegetation and barren areas. The change in area of different NDVI
classes could be seen in Table 1.

Table 1
Change in area of different NDVI classes from 2004 - 2011
Area (hectares)
Year/
NDVI classes Sparse Vege- Moderate Dense Vege-
Water Barren
tation Vegetation tation
2004 838.2 3133 19428 28257.2 1442
2011 834 6096 39108.5 7059.3 0.4

3.5 Changes in Topography:

Changes in topography in JCF are derived due to clearing of land for opencast mining,
erecting infrastructure related to underground mining, dumping of OB in nearby areas,
subsidence due to fires as there is volume loss when coal turns to ash. JCF is facing sig-
nificant subsidence due to underground mining (Ghosh 1989; Singh 2008). Variations
in OB geology, existence of a thick competent layer immediately above the coal bed,
topography, structural features, presence of a groundwater aquifer above the coal, and
geotechnical characteristics of the floor rock are major factors responsible for subsid-
ence (Choubey 1991). Generally, subsidence occurs after mining has ceased in an area.
But sometimes it occurs when a mine is still in function. In such a scenario, it may lead
to destruction of mining infrastructure and a lot of mineable coal becomes locked and
inaccessible due to subsidence. Subsidence also leads to damage of manmade infra-
structure such as houses, roads, pipelines etc. In rare cases, subsidence could also lead
to changes in natural drainage pattern of the area.

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Figure 2 Classified NDVI images of JCF processed from

Landsat data of the years (a) 2004; (b) 2011

40000
Area (hectares)

30000

20000
2004
10000
2011
0
Water Barren Sparse Mod Dense
Veg. Veg. Veg.
NDVI Classes

Figure 3 Bar graph showing areas corresponding to each NDVI class shown in Figure
2 above. Note the drastic decrease in the area under dense vegetation and increase in
sparse vegetation and barren areas

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Picture 1 Field photographs of JCF (a) Surface coal fires and the smoke emanating from
the fires, location: Rajapur mine; (b) Wide cracks on the surface could be seen due to
subsurface coal fires, location: Lodna area; (c) Ponding in an abandoned coal mine,
location: Rajapur mine; (d) A pond contaminated due to mining, location: near Block
II mine; (e) Dessication cracks in soil due to fires below, location: Rajapur mine; (f)
Widespread change in topography due to opencast mining, location: Sudamdih mine.

3.6 Changes in Land Use/Land Cover:

Changes in land-use are due to both opencast and underground mining and surface
and subsurface coal fires. Since coal mining is a dynamic process, the areas regularly
undergo changes with one land use class changing to another. These changes may be
easily quantified using temporal change detection from satellite data. LULC maps of
different times throw valuable light on the changing LULC pattern. Earlier, LULC
maps were prepared using field data and toposheets but now remote sensing data is

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widely used because of its ease of availability and periodic and synoptic coverage of an
area. Ghosh and Ghosh (1990) studied the impact of mining from pre-nationalization
to post-nationalization of coal mines in JCF. Three land-use maps of years 1925, 1974
and 1987 were prepared. Impacts were studied during 1925 to 1974 (pre-nationaliza-
tion) and from 1974 to 1987 (post-nationalization). The major impact reported was that
there has been a loss of 33% in total surface drainage area in JCF during 1974 to 1987
and the cause was directly related to mining. Later, a LULC map of JCF was prepared
by Prakash and Gupta (1998) using Landsat TM images. The area was classified into
ten LULC classes namely-dense vegetation, sparse vegetation, fire, OCM (coal), OB
dump, subsidence and barren wasteland, settlement, transport network, river and water
pond. Change detection (year 1990 to 1994) in land-use pattern was also carried out
using Landsat TM time sequential data. The main techniques used were image differ-
encing, image ratioing, and differencing of NDVI images. They concluded that JCF has
undergone many changes that have remodelled its face. Martha et al., (2010) prepared
a similar map using IRS-P6 LISS III image showing that 6.9% of the total area in the
JCF is occupied by mining and related activities indicating high risk of environmental
degradation.

3.7 Surface and Subsurface Fires:

Coal fires cast a serious impact on the environment. Oxides of N and S react with
volatile organic compounds (released due to coal fires) in the presence of sunlight to
form smog. During rainfall, NOx and SOx combine with water droplets and their pH is
reduced leading to acid rains. The soil above the fire areas is devoid of moisture and is
baked. The existing vegetation also dries up and ultimately dies due to the lack of water
and other nutrients. Detecting the area covered and the extent of the fires may give es-
timates of the amount of gaseous pollutants released into the atmosphere. And knowing
the direction of propagation of fire will lead to the estimation of how much additional
area would come under fire in a particular time period. This information could be very
helpful to mine planners for planning strategies so as how to control the spread.

Landsat TM data which carries a thermal infrared band has been the most extensively
used sensor for thermal anomaly detection of coal fires in general as well as in JCF.
Applications of Landsat TM data for estimating ground temperature related to subsur-
face fires and mapping their extent and distribution was reported by Saraf et al. (1995);
Prakash et al. (1997); Prakash and Gupta (1999); Chatterjee et al.(2007). Surface coal
fires, their extent, temperature and distribution using Landsat TM data were studied by
Prakash et al. (1997) and Prakash and Gupta (1999). A comparative study of surface
and subsurface fires was carried out by Prakash et al. (1997). TIR band was used to
study the subsurface fires while SWIR bands were used to map the surface fires. On
comparing the two results, it was found that some locations had fires only at the surface
or only in the subsurface, while the rest of the sites had both surface and subsurface
fires. More advanced statistical techniques for thermal anomaly/hotspot detection using
ETM+ and ASTER satellite data was done by (Mishra et al. 2011; Gangopadhyay et
al. 2012). Recently, Pandey et al. (2013) applied the thermography technique to assess
and monitor the mine fires in JCF. The study highlighted the precise measurements of
thermal imaging camera to delineate the fire area and propagation of fire as compared
to the thermal data obtained from satellites.

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4. Summary and Concluding Remarks:

JCF has a long mining history. Intensive mining activities in the JCF over more than a
century have brought out significant environmental changes in the area that are reflect-
ed in terms of degradation of the air, water and soil, damage to the ecological system,
loss of agricultural land, and change in the vegetation pattern.

Briefly, air pollution occurs due to blasting and drilling operations, wind erosion from
various dumps, vehicular traffic, and burning of coal fires. Particulate matter, coal dust
and soot causes respiratory tract problems such as asthma, bronchitis etc. Acid rain
damages infrastructure, crops and vegetation and pose a threat to the aquatic biodiver-
sity.

Water pollution is caused due to erosion from OB dumps and spoil heaps leading to
increase in sediment load of the streams, lakes and ponds. The effluents from coal mine
related industries lead to increase in the heavy metal concentration. Field data on some
parameters such as TDS, Fe, nitrite, hardness, conductivity and heavy metals indicate
that their concentrations exceed the permissible limits in some areas.

The soil quality is affected by removal of top soil and low accumulation of humus
resulting in lower organic content. The soils have high bulk density, large grain size,
acidic pH and high electrical conductivity, which cumulatively make the soil less potent
for plant growth. It has been found that in several pockets the dense vegetation area
has decreased and the sparse vegetation has increased in areal distribution from 2004-
2011.

Besides these, other environmental effects include cracking and subsidence of land
surfaces, change in landform and topography of the area due to regular excavations
and dumping of OB material. These environmental effects results in reduction of clean
areas for developing recreational facilities and ultimately destroys the aesthetics of the
area.

In the past, field based methods were used to assess the local environmental impact of
mining. However, these days, repetitive satellite data (of adequate spatial resolution)
provide great operational potential in surveillance and mapping of vegetation density.
It could be summarily concluded that the environment in JCF has deteriorated over the
years and the impacts need to be monitored regularly. The conjunctive application and
analysis of field based measurements and remote sensing data is extremely useful for
such environmental impact studies.

Acknowledgement:

V. Saini is grateful to the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi, for pro-
viding financial assistance in the form of Research Fellowship under Grant number
6405-14-061. The authors thank the USGS (http://glovis.usgs.gov/) for providing the
Landsat data used in this work free of cost through the internet. We express our sincere
gratitude to Dr. V. K. Singh (CIMFR, Dhanbad) for assistance in carrying out the field
work.

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