Assessment of Air and Water Quality in Opencast Mines

Abstract

Mining Industry is one of the most important and revenue-generating industries of our country. It’s pivotal for the industry to thrive and grow to ensure that the manufacturing sector also develops at the required pace. But the detrimental effects of mining are far more dangerous than we can perceive and must be kept under check to reduce the polluting consequences on environment. Mining of any ore leads to befoulment of water bodies and also air contamination. The sources of air pollution in open cast mines are drilling and blasting of ore bodies, loading and haulage of blasted ore, handling of material and maintenance. The standards for air pollution have been set by National Ambient Air Quality Standards(NAAQS) and it’s based on criteria like PM2.5, PM10, SPM etc. PM2.5 and PM10 are the standards acceptable for respirable dust and pollutants. The water that runs off the mines can have detrimental effect on the water bodies that are in and around the mining areas. The seepage from ore bodies, mining waste rocks and treatment of effluents pose a great threat to the water bodies and the aquatic life associated with them. This project will assess the various parameters of water that decide the pollution level of the water body and will also focus on the dependency of ore type on the pollution level of the water bodies.