Summary:
Mining activities in forested Western Ghats exerts pressure on environment at many stages i.e. exploration, extraction, processing, and post closer operations. Large scale opencast mining operations in the study area disturb the land by directly removing mine wastes during excavation and concurrently dumping it in adjacent areas. Impacts induced by abandoned mines are potentially harmful to surface or underground water flow modifications as well as surface instability developments capable of affecting people or infrastructure. During this course of action often lands under the cover of forest are diverted for mining caused impacts on the lands by changing in topography, drastic change in drainage pattern and triggering lands slides and rapid soil erosion. The mining was stopped in 1997 as a due to the sustained agitations from local people and NGOs. Vegetation cover aids as a regulatory factor towards the reconstruction of an ecosystem and mine soil, as it improves the physical and biological diversity of disturbed sites. The reforestation programs were initiated with local communities, NGOs (Vriksha Raksha Andolan and others) and VFCs (Village Forest Committee) helping the region to salvage its earlier status. The vegetation cover has improved in un-mechanised mining regions compared to mechanised regions. Recovery of an ecosystem (that has been degraded or destroyed) through ecological rejuvenation, involving restoration of the stability and productivity of land to enable regrowth of vegetation. Ecological restoration helps in the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed to return degraded biological communities to their original state and to re-establish self-regulatory natural processes. Reclamation reduces negative geomorphological processes, such as landslides and erosion, which are important factors in unstable localities such as high forested and mountainous regions

Introduction:
Quantitative analysis of land use land cover (LULC) changes is necessary for effective planning of a region. Land cover (LC) refers to the physical or biological material cover on the earth surface. Land cover configuration is stated as a unified reflection of the existing natural resources, dynamic natural processes. Land cover categories include forest, savannah, desert, water which are refined into more categories representing specific communities (e.g., plantations, scrublands, mangroves, perennial streams, grassland, etc...). Land use refers to the human induced changes in the land cover for agricultural, industrial, residential, recreational purposes. The drivers of land use changes include policies, mining of natural resources, agricultural production, urbanization, etc. Land use change alters the homogeneous landscape into heterogeneous mosaic of patches. LULC change is driven by the interaction of ecological, geographical, economic, and social factors (Zang and Huang, 2006) that determine the landscape development and the particular combination of factors operating in that area (Geist and Lambin, 2006). Understanding of LULC changes help in mitigating impacts due to deforestation, soil erosion by water and wind, salinisation etc. LULC study offers the appropriate solutions (also referred as alternatives) to the origins for land cover changes.
Mining refers to the process of extracting metals and minerals from the earth. Land use changes in terms of mining activities cover a diverse range of environmental challenges which were unique and specific to each mine site. Mining activities will invariably have direct or indirect impact on environment such as land degradation, degradation of forest and loss of biodiversity, soil  contamination,  air pollution,  uncontrolled noise vibrations, surface  and  ground  water  pollution deterioration of  natural  drainage  system (Dasgupta et al., 2012). Mining is a major economic activity, whether small or large-scale, are inherently cause deterioration in environment (Akabzaa, 2000), producing enormous quantities of waste that can have deleterious impacts for decades, as a result of inappropriate working practices and rehabilitation measures. Mining has a number of common stages or activities, each of which has potentially adverse impacts on the natural environment, society and cultural heritage, the health and safety of mine workers, and communities based in close proximity to operations (Noronha, 2001). Large scale operations of mining activities will contribute directly or indirectly to the depletion of the biological diversity in the region. Contiguous forests are being fragmented for excavation of minerals, development of mining infrastructure and dumping of overburdens.

The direct impacts of mining are extinction of plants and animals due to mining activities or contact with toxic wastes and mine drainages. Indirect impacts may include changes in habitat alteration, nutrient cycling and disruption of food chain (Gayatri et al., 2010). The mining activities can also produce contamination of water through tailing discharges or other direct or indirect contacts, mixing or use of water in the processing. Removal of vegetation cover often aggravates massive soil erosion, siltation of river and reservoirs that affect both the surface and ground water regime. The intensive mining activities considerably influence the hydrology and the severity of pollution depends on sources of liquid effluents in opencast mining, spent water from dust extraction and dust suppressing system and leachate run off from waste dumps.

Reclamation through revegetation of mine spoils in abandoned mine lands is the viable solution to protect the land scape and its environs from further degradation. Reclamation usually reduces negative geomorphological processes, such as landslides and erosion, which are important factors in unstable localities such as high forested and mountainous regions (Huttl and Gerwin, 2004). Tree plantation is supposed to be the best tool for reclamation of mine spoils (Singh et al., 2002), because the trees not only provide long-term ecosystem stabilisation and render potential enrichment in soil quality (Bradshaw, 1987), but also have potential commercial and aesthetic value (Torbert et al., 1993). The establishment of vegetation in abandoned mine areas involves the formation of the slopes, provision of necessary quantities of topsoil, the selection of the suitable native plant species able to survive in such extreme site conditions, the possible problems due to toxicity and environmental pollution (Gong and Yang, 2014). Successful reclamation requires knowledge of both biotic and abiotic factors, and also about ecological processes, it is necessary to analyze the properties of the reconstructed soils, because all physical and chemical soil characteristics are extremely important components of the impending ecosystem structure (Hendrychova, 2008).

Afforestation  with native saplings  is  the  commonly adopted management  strategy  in  post mining  landscapes,  both  from  the  ecological  and economic  point  of  view  (Tajovsky  and Vozenilkova,  2002; Bhattacharya, 2005). Reclamation with vegetation potentially reduces dangerous or toxic emissions or reduce discharges of potentially dangerous chemical substances into the environment (Wolkersdorfer, 2006). Vegetation exert a catalytic effect in the mine spoil restoration, by changing the understorey microclimatic conditions (viz. increased soil moisture, reduced temperature, etc.), increased vegetational-structural complexity, and development of litter and humus layers, which occur during the early years of plantation growth (Singh et al., 2002). Vegetation reverses the degradation occurred due to mining activities by stabilizing soils through development of extensive root systems (Sharma and Sunderraj, 2005) in disturbed habitats. In reclamation process species consideration should focus an array of agro-socioeconomically productive properties (Juwarkar et al., 2009) along with notably similar environmental outcomes such as promoters of nitrogen fixing interactions, relatively fast growers, well adapted to environmental conditions within more  arid zones (i.e.,  intense  heat,  sunlight),  and  have  root  architectural  adaptations  for  drought  tolerance (Koul et al., 1990;  Sharma et al., 2004; Scott et al., 2008). Soil properties of the mined sites will approximate to the natural soils of the area with the passage of time as the revegetation process will progress by the improvement in soil texture and nutrients (Hanief et al., 2007).

Natural recovery of the mine spoil also takes place, but it takes several years to reach the natural condition through colonization of plant and animal species. On the other hand, vegetation through afforestation, with several amendments, takes comparatively lesser time to reach the values of a native forest ecosystem (Jha and Singh, 1992, Evans et al., 2013). The systematic ecosystem approach is the feasible solution for reviving the abandoned mined sites. Ecological restoration is the process of assisting the recovery of a degraded ecosystem. These restoration strategies must address soil structure, microbe populations, and nutrient cycling in order to return the land as closely as possible to its pre-disturbance condition and continue as a self-sustaining ecosystem. A restoration programme not only helps in restoring the soil fertility, but also enhances the biological diversity (Dobson et al., 1997; Singh and Singh, 2006; Vermai et al., 2007). Spatial data acquired at regular intervals through space borne remote sensors has the ability to provide consistent measurements of landscape conditions, allowing detection of both abrupt changes and slow trends (Kennedy et al. 2009; Fraser et al., 2009; Bharath et al., 2013). LULC changes reflect the most significant impact on the environment due to human activities or natural forces revealed effectively by remote sensing for getting wide impression (Zhou et al., 2004). Remote sensing data along with GIS and GPS (Global positioning system) helps in effective measure of landscape dynamics (Ramachandra et al., 2014) in cost effective manner (Lillesand et al., 1987). Remote sensing data with GIS has been a useful tool for planning, and decision making to devise sustainable land use and environmental planning (Dewan and Yamaguchi 2009). 

Objectives:

• To identify and assess the spatio temporal changes in the land scape of Bisgod pre and post mining activities.
• To examine local communities perceptions on how mining activities impacted the environment.
• To suggest interventions that can assist in mitigating the negative impacts of mining.

Indian Mining sector-a brief review: Mining sector has been in the news in recent times due to unlimited and unsustainable exploitation of mineral resources, pollution and destruction of natural resources including forests, large scale displacement of rural and tribal people, rapid depletion of mineral wealth of the region, royalty paid to the state is negligible. Small scale mines and artisanal mines form a major proportion though their geographical area of operation may be small. Forest land diversion for mining has been estimated as 1.64 lakh hectares in the country.  Mining of major minerals generated about 1.84 billion tonne of waste (2006), which has been disposed-off without due considerations toward the environment. Out of the 9416 mines (excluding fuel, atomic and minor minerals) in the Country, there are about 5345 (56%) number of mining leases that have a lease area less than 10ha in size. However, their cumulative lease area is 21,000 ha which is 4% of total mine lease area in the country. There is no reliable information on the physical distribution pattern of mining leases in the minor mineral sector wherein small and medium scale mines and artisanal mines of less than 5 ha in size dominate. Mandated government agencies like Indian Bureau of Mining (IBM), State Pollution Control Boards (SPCB) also report significant lack of capacity to perform their regulatory functions to the levels required. Current capacity within IBM can cover only about 2500 leases, while there are approximately 7000 leases and 5000 operational mines in the country (HLC, 2006). Legal and regulatory loopholes and inadequate policing has allowed the illegal mining operations to flourish and grow in the country (TERI, 2001). The coincidence of rich biodiversity with mineral bearing areas, is understood but not adequately factored into the comprehensive assessment and mitigation of long term impacts, leading to inadequate response from the project proponents and the regulator.

 

Study area:
India’s 78% vanadium ore, 73% iron ore (magnetite), 42% tungsten ore, 37% asbestos, 28% limestone, 22% gold, 20% granite, 17% dunite, and 14% corundum resources comes from Karnataka State. Between 1980 and 2005, around 7,558 hectares of forest land in Karnataka was diverted for mining activities – this is about 8 per cent of the total forest land diverted for mining in India, while  revenues from mining has remained a bare 0.7-0.8 per cent of the state’s total revenues. The manganic-ferrous formation in Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka has marked discontinuously along the Anmod–Bisgod tract and continues northwards into Belgaum district. Lateritic weathering of the Late Archean meta sedimentary manganic-ferrous formation of the Shimoga Schist Belt and subsequent epeirogenic uplift and erosion of the Western Ghats terrain gave rise to the uniquely disposed supergene ore accumulations in the Anmod–Bisgod belt (Sethumadhav et al., 2010).  In Bisgod region, ore occurs as conformable units within phyllite and chert and at times with dolomite. Mining in Bisgod region was mainly by opencast extraction method. Open cast mining involves the removal of overburden including the valuable topsoil and plus the natural vegetative cover to meet the expected mineral deposits. The most common surface mining method is opencast mining, which keeps exposure to the surface during the extraction period. Disruption of the surface significantly affects the soil, fauna, flora and surface water, thereby influencing all types of land use. Mining activities are carried out by Mysore Minerals Limited (MML) in stages: deposit prospecting and exploration, mine development and preparation, mine exploitation, and treatment of the minerals obtained at the respective installations with the aim of obtaining marketable products. The emerging environmental hazards associated with open cast mining practices are numerous.
Opencast mining excavates large land areas to extract the mineral ore and at the same time requires huge areas to dump the mine spoils. During this course of action nearby areas under the cover of forest or agriculture are diverted for mining. This exploitation impacted on the landscape resulting change in topography, drastic change in drainage pattern, triggering lands slides, rapid soil erosion, rapid siltation and degradation of surface water bodies. Opencast mining operation creates enormous quantity of dust of various sizes which passes into transportation and disperse significant amount of suspended particulate matters (SPM) and gaseous pollutants in to the atmosphere. These pollutants not only affect the mine workers but also affected the nearby populations, agricultural crops and livestock. It was also noted blanketing mine spoils in the nearby agricultural and grazing lands, which affected productivity of farming. In order to obtain the fine-grained metals and other minerals, large quantities of rock are mined, crushed, and processed to recover metal and other mineral values. Mining industry produces enormous quantities of waste, rock particles etc., these wastes are known as "tailings." In Bisgod region, major dumping was done in a large pond called Anekere - 'elephant's pond'- (where historically elephants used to drink water) has been totally filled up with mining refuse. According to Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Act, 1957 every mine is required to submit mine closure plan, which are (i). Progressive Mine Closure Plan and (ii) Final Mine Closure Plan. This is to be submitted to concerned authorities by the project proponent (owner, agent, manager or mining engineer). Even in case of fresh grant or renewal of mining lease, submission of a Progressive Mine Closure Plan as a component of mining plan to the officer authorized by the State Government is mandatory. Submission of final mine closure plan to authorities at least one year prior to closure has not been for Bisgod.  Manganese mines in the Bisgod and its neighboring regions has devastated the area during the last 30 years.
The present study aimed at identifying the impact of mining and restoration of forests in the region with temporal data. The Bisgod and its surrounding was divided in to four directions NE, SE, SW and NW covering an area of 2.5*2.5 km region (Figure 1 (a & b)). The NE, SE, SW regions are potential mined areas, where as NW region no mining activities were took place. As per Karnataka Forest department working plan, total area allotted for mining is about 7,558 Ha. The total land released for MML is done at periodically as 70 Ha, 40 Ha etc. at different places in Bisgod region. Figure 1 maps mined areas in each direction. Field analysis was carried out to understand the status of vegetation in the region with afforestation endeavor by local forest department and also regeneration prospects.  Mining license was acquired in 1961 by MML with Goa based private mining industries. The major mining work was executed in post 70’s. The license expired in 1989 but the company continued mining till 1997. During this period with mechanized extraction impact on forests is evident with degradation of the forest area. This affected more than 10,000 local people who were dependent on the forests for their livelihood. The mining activities were stopped with the sustained agitation from local people and NGOs (Vriksha Raksha Andolan, and other).

Figure 1 (a): Study area- Bisgod landscape (Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka)

Figure 1 (b): Study area and mined sites visited for field investigation

Figure 2: Mining area in SW direction (near Anekere- no mechanised extraction)

Figure 3: Mining area in NE direction (Nagar Kan area-mechanised extraction)

 

Method:

Figure 4: Method followed in the analysis

LULC changes in Bisgod region has been analysed with the help of temporal remote sensing data (RS), ancillary data (collateral data compiled from government agencies) and field investigations. Figure 4 outlines the method followed in the analysis.  The RS data used in the study are Landsat MSS (1973), TM (1989, 1999), Landsat ETM+ (2013) and online Google Earth (http://earth.google.com) data. The ancillary data is used to assist the interpretation of different land use types from remote sensing data. Topographic maps provided ground control points to rectify remotely sensed data and scanned paper maps (topographic maps). Survey of India (SOI) topo sheets (1:50000 and 1:250000 scales) and vegetation map of South India developed by French Institute (1986) of scale 1:250000 was digitized to identify various forest cover types and temporal analyses to find out the changes in vegetation. Other ancillary data includes land cover maps, administration boundary data, transportation data (road network) and pre-calibrated GPS (Global Positioning System - Garmin GPS unit) for field measurements. Ground control points are used to geometrically correct remote sensing data and verify the classified land use information.

The temporal remote sensing data of Landsat satellites were collected and enhancement of images (depending on the scene that required treatment) was done at image preprocessing stage. The RS data is geometrically corrected using ground control points collected from the field using pre calibrated GPS (Global Positioning System) and also from known points (such as road intersections, etc.) collected from geo-referenced the Survey of India topographic maps. Geometric correction is the process of referencing a map/image to a geographic location (real earth surface positions) using GCPs (ground control points). In the correction process numerous GCPs are located in terms of their two image coordinates; on the distorted image and in terms of their ground coordinates typically measured from a map or located in the field, in terms of UTM coordinates or latitude and longitude. The land use analysis was done using supervised classifier based on - Gaussian maximum likelihood algorithm with training data (data collected from field). Maximum Likelihood algorithm is a common, appropriate and efficient method in supervised classification techniques by using availability of multi-temporal “ground truth” information to obtain a suitable training set for classifier learning. This approach quantitatively evaluated both the variance and covariance of the category spectral response patterns when classifying an unknown pixel of remote sensing data, assuming the distribution of data points to be Gaussian. GRASS GIS (Geographical Resources Analysis Support System) software is used for the analysis, which is a free and open source software having the robust support for processing both vector and raster files accessible at http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/grass/index.php. To classify earlier  time  data,  training  polygon  along with  attribute  details  were  compiled  from  the  historical  published topographic  maps, French institute  vegetation  maps,  revenue  maps, land records available from local regulatory authorities,  etc. This information provided as a base for analysing earlier time data with more valid positioning. The 60%  of  training  data  has  been  used  for  classification, while  the  balance  is  used  for  remote sensing data validation  or  accuracy  assessment. Accuracy assessments is a statistical assessment decide the quality of the information derived from remotely sensed data considering reference pixels. These test samples are then used to create error matrix (also referred as confusion matrix) kappa (κ) statistics and overall (producer's and user's) accuracies to assess the classification accuracies.

 

Results and discussion:

The land use analysis from 1973 to 2013 reveals the transition in the landscape of Bisgod region (Figure 5 and Table 1). The region had 89.99% of evergreen forest cover and 5% of crop lands in 1973. The evergreen forest declines to 61.13% by 1999 with the initiation of mining and associated developments. The forest loss and fragmentation highlights land conversion for non-forestry purposes.  The land use conversions subsequent to mining include ancillary facilities and statutory buildings (workshops, stores, offices and canteen), residential colony and related welfare amenities like school, hospital, shopping center etc.. The major impact on the land use during the pre-mining phase was removal of vegetation and creation of facilities for executing mining operation. During mining and post-mining phases, changes in landscape were soil-erosion, loss of top soil, creation of waste dumps and voids, disposal of wastes, deforestation etc. The post mining, region has seen the transformation with afforestation endevour by the forest department. Transition in vegetation cover is observed due to pressure of anthropogenic activities. To reduce the impact of mining and soil erosion, the forest department has raised the Acacia plantations in mining sites and other vacated lands near mining area. The area under Acacia plantation cover is accounted to be 7.94% by 2013. The high rainfall in the mining areas also contributing to erosion which results in many of the waterways being silted and or becoming un-navigable.   

The region is divided into four zones (NE, SE, SW and NW) to identify micro level changes, region wise how mining activity affected the local ecosystem and the regeneration of vegetation in abandoned mining sites. The top soil in this region was dumped into nearby forest area of Baragadde village (Figure 6) highlights mismanagement during mining era. Figure 7 and Table 2 shows the status of NE region, which covers Nagarakan, Hukkalli, Baragadde villages. The evergreen forest cover lost from 98.32 to 57.80%. Mining activities have severely affected the forests of this region and resulted in forest fragmentation. The region has 3.56% of Acacia plantations in mining sites due course of afforestation. The mine regions which are not afforested are acting as a minor water bodies, which are catering the water requirement for wild animals. The weed infestation is noted as highest in the forest plantations, if not controlled they dry up and increases fire hazard. Soil compaction and higher run-off are associated with monocultures. The tailings were slided down the forested hill-slopes into a tributary of Kali river. Open-pit backfilling is also practiced in some places, where tailings are deposited into abandoned pits or portions of activepits.

Table 1: Landscape dynamics of Bisgod from 1973 to 2013

Figure 5: Land use analysis from 1973 to 2013

Figure 6: Top soil and mine waste dumped in forest area

Table 2: Land use changes in NE zone

The land use analysis in SE direction (Figure 8 and Table 3) represents the major loss in evergreen forest cover from 81.27% to 23.99%. The intensive mining activities in Gerel and its environs shows a major change in the forest cover. The major region of forests are turning to moist deciduous cover due to alteration of microclimate and from 1973 to 1989 major cover of 18.28% of area represents this change. The mined regions are afforested by Acacia plantations which covers 21.29% in this area. During mining, many agriculture areas in the region were piled up with eroded soil in monsoon and resulted as unproductive land for cultivation. A large portion of land in the heart of the evergreen forest has removed vegetation cover, leading to erosion of top soil, excessive silting and landslide (ex: in Hosmane village) as a result of manganese ore mining by a Mysore minerals limited and associated number of companies. Tailings were disposed unscientifically (based on convenience and minimal cost), often in flowing water or directly into drainages. As local concerns arose about sedimentation in downstream watercourses, water use and other issues, mining authority began impounding tailings often in other region away from Bisgod.

Table 3: Land use changes in SE direction (1973-2013)

The SW region covers the un-mechanized mines at Bisgod and Anagod villages. MML provided contract to Goa based private company,  for exploiting minerals. The mined regions were abandoned after the expiry of permit and in these regions natural regeneration are noticed.  Figure 9 shows one of the trail pit created in mining era, with regeneration of moist deciduous species. Occurrence of Olea dioica, Schleichera oleosa, Vitex altissima, Lagerstroemia microcarpa etc. highlight the regeneration status. But at the same time, one can observe the intensified pressure from illegal logging (Figure 10), wood and litter collection. The land use analysis (Figure 11 and Table 4) reveals the region had 85.20% of evergreen cover reached to 41.88% and Acacia plantations of 6.33% (2013). The Acacia plantations are at Bisgod (near MML quarters, branch office, school area, etc.). This region requires fencing to allow regeneration, which helps in the return of primeval evergreen forest cover.   

The NW region of Bisgod represents a region without any mining activities. The region (Figure 12 and Table 5) has good forest cover of 65.72% evergreen and 23.24% of moist deciduous. The region also has some natural springs, which provides continuous supply of water to agriculture activities. The region has a rich primeval forest cover and least disturbance from anthropogenic pressure as compare to other zones (Figure 13). The region has good native cover with greater basal area and least interference of agriculture activities. The reforestation and fencing the areas connected to betta lands can further improve the vegetation cover.
 Table 4: Land use changes in SW direction (1973-2013)

Figure 7: Land use dynamics in NE direction (Covers Nagarakan, Baragadde, Hukkalli villages) 

Figure 8: Land use changes in SE direction

Figure 9: Trail pit in mining area-natural regeneration

Figure 10: Illegal logging in forest area of earlier mined region and its environs

Figure 11: Land use changes in SE direction

Figure 12: Land use changes in NW direction

Figure 13: Good native cover of forests in NW zone (Unmined area)

Figure 14: Vacant staff quarters of MML

Table 5: Land use changes in NW direction (1973-2013)

 

References:

1. Akabzaa, T.M., 2000. Boom and dislocation. The environmental and social impacts of mining in the Wassa West District of Ghana. Accra, Third World Network Africa.
2. Bharath, S., Rajan, K.S., Ramachandra, T.V., 2013. Land Surface Temperature Responses to Land Use Land Cover Dynamics. Geoinfor Geostat. An Overview 1:4.
3. Bhattacharya, J., 2005. Reclamation methodologies for displaced landforms, Proc. Of Conference on Technological Advancements and environmental Challenges in Mining and Allied Industries in the 21st Century, February 5-6, NIT, Rourkela, pp. 503-514.
4. Bradshaw, A.D., 1987. The reclamation of derelict land and the ecology of ecosystems. In Jordan, W.R., Gilpin, M.E., & Aber, J.D., (Eds.) Restoration ecology: A synthetic approach to ecological research (pp. 53–74). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
5. Dasgupta A., Sastry, K.L.N., Dhinwa, P.S., 2012. Impact of mining on rural environment and economy - a case study, Kota district, Rajasthan, International Journal of Remote Sensing & Geoscience, 2(3), 21-26.
6. Dewan, M.A., Yamaguchi, Y., 2009. Using remote sensing and GIS to detect and monitor land use and land cover change in Dhaka Metropolitan on Bangladesh during 1960–2005, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 150, 237–249.
7. Dobson, A. P., Bradshaw, A. D., & Baker, A. G. M., 1997.Hopes for the future: Restoration ecology and conservation biology. Science, 277, 515–522.
8. Evans, D.M., Zipper, C.E., Burger, J.A., Strahm, B.D., & Villamagna, A.M., 2013. Reforestation practice for enhancement of ecosystem services on a compacted surface mine: Path toward ecosystem recovery. Ecological Engineering, 51, 16-23.
9. Fraser, R.H., Olthof, I., Pouliot, D., 2009. Monitoring land cover change and ecological integrity in Canada’s national parks, Remote Sensing of Environment, 113, 1397–1409.
10. Gong, R., and Yang, Q., 2014. Analysis of Ecological Remediation for Stone Wasteland of Shimenzhai Town in Qinhuangdao, China. Advanced Materials Research, 878, 746-750.
11. Gayatri Singh, Amit Pal, Rajeev K., Niranjan and Manjesh Kumar, 2010. Assessment of environmental impacts by mining activities: A case study from Jhansi open cast mining site - Uttar Pradesh, India, Journal of Experimental Sciences, 1 (1), 09-13.
12. Hanief, S.M., Thakur, S.D., and Gupta, B., 2007. Vegetal profile of natural plant succession and artificially revegetated limestone mines of Himachal Pradesh, India.  Journal of Tropical Forestry 23, 128-135.
13. Hendrychova, M., 2008. Reclamation success in post-mining landscapes in the Czech Republic: A review of pedological and biological studies. Journal of Landscape Studies 1, 63–78.
14. HLC, 2006. Report on National Mineral Policy, High Level Committee, Planning Commission, 2006.
15. Huttl, R.F., and Gerwin, W., 2004. Landscape and ecosystem development after disturbance by mining. Ecological Engineering, 24, 1–3.
16. Jha, A.K., & Singh, J.S., 1992. Rehabilitation of mine spoils; Restoration of degraded land: Concepts and strategies, pp. 211–253.
17. Juwarkar,  A.A.,  Yadav,  S.K.,  Thawale,  P.R.,  Kumar,  P.,  Singh  S.K.,  and  Chakrabarti, 2009. Developmental  strategies  for  sustainable  ecosystem  on  mine  spoil  dumps:  a  case  study. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 157, 471-481.
18. Kabrna, M., and Rehor, M., 2007. Reclamation as an effective tool for post-mining landscape regeneration.  In:  Kungolos, A., Aravossis, K., Karagiannidis, A., and Samaras, P., (Eds.). Proceedings of SECOTEX Conference and the International Conference on Environmental Management Engineering, Planning and Economics – volume I, 613 –618.
19. Kennedy, R.E., Townsend, P.A., Gross, J.E., Cohen, W.B., Bolstad, P., Wang, Y.Q., Adams, P., 2009. Remote sensing change detection tools for natural resource managers: understanding concepts and tradeoffs in the design of landscape monitoring projects. Remote Sensing of Environment, 113, 1382–1396.
20. Koul, O., Isman, M.B., and Ketkar, C.M., 1990. Properties and uses of neem, Azadirachta indica, Canadian Journal of Botany 68, 1-11.
21. Lambin and Geist, 2006. Land Use and Land Cover Change: Local Processes and Global Impacts, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany, pp. 222.
22. Noronha, L. 2001. Designing tools to track health and well-being in mining regions of India. Natural Resource Forum, 25, 53-65.
23. Ramachandra, T.V., Uttam Kumar, Bharath Aithal, H., Diwakar, P.G., Joshi, N.V., 2010. Landslide susceptible locations in Western Ghats: Prediction through Open Modeller, In proceedings of the 25th Annual In-House Symposium on Space Science and Technology, 28-29th January 2010, Organised by ISRO-IISc Space Technology Cell, IISc, pp 65-74.
24. Ramachandra, T.V., Bharath Setturu, Bharath Aithal, 2014. Spatio-temporal dynamics along the terrain gradient of diverse landscape, Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management, 22(1), 50-63.
25. Ruiz-Jaen, M.C., and Aide, T.M. 2005. Restoration Success: How is it being Measured? Restoration Ecology, 13, 569-577.
26. Sethumadhav, M.S., Gunnell, Y., & Ahmed, M.M., 2010. Late Archean manganese mineralization and younger supergene manganese ores in the Anmod–Bisgod region, Western Dharwar Craton, southern India: geological characterization, palaeo environmental history, and geomorphological setting. Ore Geology Reviews, 38(1), 70-89.
27. Sharma, D., & Sunderraj, S.F.W., 2005. Species selection for improving disturbed habitats in Western India. Current Science, 88(3), 462–467.
28. Sharma, K.D., Kumar, P., Gough, L.P., and Sanfilipo, J.R., 2004. Rehabilitation of a lignite minedisturbed area in the Indian desert. Land Degradation and Development, 15, 163-176.
29. Scott, P.T., Pregelj, L., Chen, N., Hadler, J.S., Djordjevic, M.A., and Gresshoff, P.M., 2008.  Pongamia pinnata: an untapped resource for the biofuels industry of the future. Bioenergy Research, 1, 2-11.
30. Singh, A. N., & Singh, J.S., 2006. Experiments on ecological restoration of coal mine spoil using native trees in a dry tropical environment, India: A synthesis. New Forests, 31, 25–39.
31. Tajovsky, K., and Vozenilkova, K., 2002. Development of millipede  (Diplopoda)  and  centipede  (Chilopoda) assemblages  on  colliery  spoil  heaps  under  different rehabilitation  practices. International Conference on Disturbed Landscapes, September 24–27th, 2002, Brandenburg University of Technology, Cottbus, Germany.
32. TERI, 2001. Overview of mining and mineral industry in India, New Delhi: Tata Energy Research Institute Project Report No.2001EE42.
33. Torbert, J. L., Burger, J. A., and Daniels, W.L., 1993. Pine growth variation associated with overburden rock type on a reclaimed surface mine in Virginia. Journal of Environmental Quality, 19, 88–92.
34. Tripathi, N., Raj Shekhar S., 2008. Ecological restoration of mined-out areas of dry tropical environment, India, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 146 (1-3), 325-337.
35. Vermai, R.K., Kapoor, J.S., Subramani, S.P., Rawat, R.S., 2004. Evaluation of plant diversity and soil quality under plantations raised in surface mined areas. Indian Journal of Forestry. 27(2), 227-233.
36. Wolkersdorfer, C., 2006. Water Management at Abandoned Flooded Underground mines, Fundamentals – Tracer tests – Modelling – Water Treatment. – State doctorate Memoir, 348 p.,
37. Zang, S., and Huang, X., 2006. An aggregated multivariate regression land-use model and its application to land-use change processes in the Daqing region (northeast China), Ecol. Model. 193, 503–516.
38. Zhou, Q., Li, B., and Zhou, C., 2004, Studying Spatio-Temporal Pattern of Landuse Change in Arid Environment of China, In Advances in Spatial Analysis and Decision Making, Li, Z., Zhou, Q. and Kainz, W. (eds.), Swets & Zeitlinger, Lisse: 189-200.

 

E-mail   |   Sahyadri   |   ENVIS   |   GRASS   |   Energy   |   CES   |   CST   |   CiSTUP   |   IISc   |   E-mail

Dr. T.V. Ramachandra
Centre for Sustainable Technologies,
Centre for infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning (CiSTUP),
Energy & Wetlands Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore – 560 012, INDIA.
E-mail : cestvr@ces.iisc.ernet.in
Tel: 91-080-22933099/23600985, Fax: 91-080-23601428/23600085
Web: http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy

M D Subash Chandran
Energy & Wetlands Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore – 560 012, INDIA.
E-mail: mds@ces.iisc.ernet.in

Setturu Bharth
Energy & Wetlands Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore – 560 012, INDIA.
E-mail: settur@ces.iisc.ernet.in

G R Rao
Energy & Wetlands Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore – 560 012, INDIA.
E-mail: grrao@ces.iisc.ernet.in

Vishnu D Mukri
Energy & Wetlands Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore – 560 012, INDIA.
E-mail: vishnumukri@gmail.com

Citation:Ramachandra T.V., Subash Chandran M.D., Bharath Settur, Rao G R and Vishnu Mukri, 2014. Reclamation of Mine Regions at Bisgod: Approaches and Challenges, Sahyadri Conservation Series 43, ENVIS Technical Report 80, CES, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India

Contact Address :

Dr. T.V. Ramachandra Energy & Wetlands Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences, TE 15, New Biology Building, Third Floor, E Wing, [Near D Gate], Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore – 560 012, INDIA. Tel : 91-80-22933099 / 22933503-extn 107 Fax : 91-80-23601428 / 23600085 / 23600683 [CES-TVR] E-mail : cestvr@ces.iisc.ernet.in, energy@ces.iisc.ernet.in,    Web : http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy