Our Correspondent
Kohima | January 18
The Nagaland Pollution Control Board (NPCB), in a report, has cautioned people and agencies involved in coal mining in the state on its impact on the land. In a report titled ‘Study of coal mining areas in Nagaland and its impact on environment,’ the NPCB said that strip mining severely alters the landscape, which reduces the value of natural environment in the surrounding land.
If mining is allowed, residents of human population must be resettled off the mine site, as economic activities, such as agriculture or hunting and gathering food and medicinal plants are interrupted, the NPCB said.
Strip mining, it stated eliminates existing vegetation, destroys the genetic soil profile, displaces or destroys wild life and habitat, alters current land uses, and to some extent permanently changes the general topography of the area mined. Adverse impacts on geological features of human interest may occur in the coal strip mine.
Cautioning against indiscriminate mining in Nagaland, the NPCB said that paleontological, cultural, and other historic values may be endangered due to the disruptive activities of blasting, ripping, and excavating coal.
Further stating that these activities increase the quantity of dust in the area, the NPCB said this has adverse impact on vegetative life, and constitute health and safety hazards for mine workers and nearby residents.
Residents of local communities often find such impacts disturbing or unpleasant, it stated. In cases of mountain top removal, top soil is removed from mountains or hills to expose thick coal seams underneath. The soil and rock removed is deposited in nearby valleys, hollows and depressions, resulting in blocked (and contaminated) waterways.
The NPCB recommended that studies of the immediate environment should be carried out several years before a coal mine opens in order to define the existing conditions and to identify potential problems. The studies should look at the impact of mining on surface and ground water, soils, local land use, native vegetation and wild life populations.
Computer simulations can be undertaken to model impacts on the local environment. The findings are then reviewed as part of the process leading to the award of a mining permit by the relevant government authorities, it stated.
