Impact of mining on environment - an appraisal

Mining of minerals and coal is a vital sector of our economy, just next after agriculture. Rapid industrialisation of the country has necessitated rapid increase in the production level of the mineral and coal. It is not surprising that they have a wide range of environmental impacts at every stage of operation. The process of environmental degradation, which starts, with the extraction of minerals resulting in land degradation and addition of pollutants in the air and water, continues even as the extracted mineral ores are further processed and developed for their ultimate uses. Associated with any development, there is bound to be some amount of the environmental degradation, but it is the responsibility of industry and regulatory/governmental agencies to identify the causes of environmental pollution and minimise it