19/08/2023
Impacts of mining activities on environment and climate change
Opencast mining operations involve the removal of huge quantities of overburden, dumping, and backfilling of the excavated area. These overburden deposits of waste material containing low-grade ores are represented as mine spoil dumps. The degraded land due to mining activities and overburden of stockpiling of mine discards results not only in the formation of the unsightly landscape but also is associated with the pollution of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The gradual increase in such landscapes created due to extensive mining activities may endanger the agro-forest productivity of the country as well as the ecological balance (Juwarkar et al., 2015, 2016).
Mining activities generate a large number of waste rocks and tailings which get deposited at the surface. The land surface is damaged and the waste rocks and tailings are often very unstable and will become sources of pollution. Land degradation due to mining has reached alarming proportions mainly due to over-exploitation and mismanagement of natural resources. One of the consequences of the ever-increasing human population, supported by accelerated land degradation is the lowering of the man to land ratio. Therefore, there is an urgent need to address the major environmental issues which are the outcome of the mining activities. The issues include the destruction of habitat and biodiversity at the mine site, ecosystem/habitat/biodiversity protection in adjacent land, landscape/visual impact/loss of land-use, site stabilization and rehabilitation, mine waste/tailings disposal, air emissions, dust, climate change, siltation and changes in river regimes, effluent discharges and acid drainage, groundwater alteration or contamination, workplace health and safety, the impact of metals toxicity and settlement issues around mines. Considering all these issues, the overall reclamation of overburdened/wasteland is a challenging task. The main challenge in the restoration of these degraded/wastelands are sustainable biodiversity and management of the mine spoils dumps and the adjoining area, keeping in view the local requirement of the vicinity
