Evaluation of decadal land degradation dynamics in old coal-mines of
Central India
Abstract
The present study attempts to understand land use dynamics in an area
subjected to opencast and underground coal mining for the last few
decades in Kotma Coalmines of Anuppur district in Madhya Pradesh, India
through geospatial techniques. Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) change
detection analysis was performed digitally classifying Landsat 5 (2001)
as well as Landsat 8 (2020) satellite data using maximum likelihood
algorithm. Results revealed that area under Dense native vegetation
decreased drastically (13.74 sq. km) with the gradual and consistent
expansion in the activities of coal mines which showed the highest
increase in area over time (15.84 sq. km). Bivariate regression analysis
showed the positive empirical relationships between vegetation indices
and soil physico-chemical parameters. Studies suggested soil and
vegetation is degraded over the large mining areas consistently over a
long time period. Despite the continuous reforestation activities on
mined areas, the decline area under dense vegetation and sparse
vegetation over the twenty-year time-scale indicates that the
reclamation activities are still in its’ infancy. Land Degradation
Vulnerability Index (LDVI) map was generated to understand the extent of
decadal land degradation trends and it shows that 8.60 % of the area is
highly vulnerable to degradation. The LDI inputs will help the planners
to develop alternate strategies to tackle vulnerability zones for safe
mining. Monthly estimation of various meteorological parameters was also
recorded to generate heat plots for the period 2001-2020. The study
concludes that monitoring and assessment of fragile ecosystems are
indispensable for holistic environmental management.