Ecofriendly practices in Indian mining industry

In the changing world environment scenario, coal and other mineral industry now faces environmental constrains in all facets of fuel cycle. Which has had considerable impact on the economic, social, political and technological environment of the mining industry. Unscientific planning for mineral extraction affects all components of the environment including acid mine drainage, siltation in the streams pollution of air and water bodies, degradation of land, preventing vegetational succession and bio-diversity in the mining areas. It is now a formidable task to the mines management as well as environmental scientists to ensure that coal is mined and used in an economically efficient and ecologically sustainable manner, particularly in those countries and regions which can not presently meet the costs of environmental protection. The requirement of ecofriendly practices for sustainable development of mining industry are to minimize or prevent environmental impacts during the operation of a mining site, and to ensure reclamation of the degraded site to a beneficial use when working is closed. In this paper an attempt has been made to describe a few case studies along with ecofriendly best practices in the past and present environmental scenario along with the regulatory measures in Indian mining industry