Impacts of the Coal Mining

Context- Recently, the Adani Enterprises Limited  (AEL) coal mining project in Chhattisgarh has ignited a debate because of its effect on the climate and neighborhood networks.

Key Highlights 

• Over the past ten years, AEL has been mining coal in the Surguja district of Chhattisgarh’s Parsa East and Kente Basan coal blocks.
• Locals in the Chhattisgarh villages of Hariharpur, Ghatbarra, and Fattepur, primarily members of the Gond tribe, have been protesting mining at the village’s entrance for more than a year.

What are the Effects of Mining?

• Environmental Effects:

• • • Mining in the area will prompt the deficiency of around 8 lakh trees of the Sal woodlands in Hasdeo Aranya. The Hasdeo river’s catchment will ultimately be affected as a result.
    • There had been an effort to save the trees around the time that mining started.
      • In 2014, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) stayed the mining licenses and ordered studies on the mines’ effects on the environment. However, mining began after the NGT order was overturned by the Supreme Court.

• Locals’ Impact:

• • Locals’ lives have been negatively impacted by the mining project. because the mine has destroyed forests.
  • The “Save Hasdeo Campaign” is also being run to protect Hasdeo’s forests.
  • The mines have annihilated nibbling land for cows, impacted the groundwater level, and the impacting has relaxed the earth around borewells, and tube wells individuals had been utilizing for minor cultivating.
    • The stream close to Hariharpur, once used to have water and fish consistently, has transformed into a sloppy stream since the digging has impacted the catchment region.

What is Coal?

• • It is a kind of fossil fuel that is found in sedimentary rocks and is sometimes called “Black Gold.”
  • It is widely available and a conventional energy source. It is utilized domestically, in industries like iron and steel, steam engines, and electricity generation, as well as as a fuel. Thermal power is coal-based electricity.
  • China, the United States, Australia, Indonesia, and India are the world’s top coal producers.

• India’s coal distribution:

• Coal Fields in Gondwana, 250 million years old:

• • • • Gondwana coal accounts for 98% of India’s total coal production and reserves.
      • It has a high ash content and is India’s metallurgical grade as well as superior quality coal.
      • It can be found in the Damodar (Jharkhand-West Bengal), Godavari (Maharashtra), Mahanadi (Chhattisgarh-Odisha), and Narmada valleys.

• Tertiary coal fields that are between 15 and 60 million years old:

• • • Carbon content is extremely low yet is wealthy in dampness and sulfur.
    • The majority of tertiary coalfields are located outside of the peninsula.
    • Significant regions incorporate Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himalayan lower regions of Darjeeling in West Bengal, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Kerala.
  • Classification:
    • Anthracite, which has a carbon content of between 80 and 95 percent and is only found in small quantities in J&K.
    • Bituminous (Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh all have between 60 and 80 percent carbon content).
    • Lignite is found in Rajasthan, Lakhimpur (Assam), and Tamil Nadu. It has a high moisture content and a carbon content of 40 to 55 percent.
    • Peat is the first stage of its transformation from organic matter (wood) to coal and contains less than 40% carbon.

• Coal Reserves:

• • Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh are India’s most coal-rich states.

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