Air Pollution and its Control in Mining Areas

Expansion of the opencast mining sector in India continues apace. Air pollution is one of the main environmental problems caused by surface mining as evidenced by the presence of high level of SPM and RPM in and around various mining regions. The average ratio of RPM to SPM in 493 air samples collected from various coalfields in India was found to be 0.48 but there was wide scatter in the result indicating the need of measuring both SPM and RPM values in the air samples. The commonly adopted dust control measures in Indian mines have been reviewed. The possibility of using dust control chemicals on mine haul roads including the recent controversy on the possible toxic effect of such usage has also been discussed. The experience of using dispersal modelling to get estimates of the SPM and RPM levels at various receptor points around a mine has been reviewed. The number of air sampling stations and frequency of sampling needed for monitoring of the air quality have also been discussed.