Multidimensional Outlook on Environment
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Multidimensional Outlook on Environment E d i t o r s D r. S a r m i s t h a S a h a D r. R a h i S o r e n D r. N o b i n a M u k h e r j e e D r. S i r s e n d u B h o w m i c k Multidimensional Outlook on Environment ISBN: 978-81-948349-0-8 A comprehensive ecological study of the Kiriburu - Meghahatuburu Iron Ore Mine area of Jharkhand, India Sudipta Kumar Maiti1,2,* , Suman Adhikary2 1State Aided College Teacher-1, Department of Botany, Raja N.L.K.W. College, Midnapore, West Bengal 2Environmental Academy for Research and Technological Harmony (EARTH), Sree Colony, Kolkata, West Bengal *Corresponding Author: Sudipa Kumar Maiti, E-mail:[email protected] ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Biodiversity rich Saranda Forest consist of Moist Deciduous Keywords: and Tropical Dry Deciduous Forest. It is scattered in the state of Jharkhand. Saranda is mostly dominated by Shorea- Saranda Terminalia-Adina series of plants. The Importance Value Kiriburu- Index (IVI) states the fact that Saranda is a Sal (Shorea Meghahatuburu robusta) dominated forest. Indian Elephants frequently Iron ore mining migrate in between Dalma and Saranda forest. The Kiriburu- Elephant migration Meghahatuburu Iron ore mining area is a border town Biodiversity between Jharkhand and Odisha. The whole area (820 sqkm) Ecological impact is mined by various iron and steel companies and governed by SAIL. The Kiriburu-Meghahatuburu and its adjacent areas are located on this natural migration pathway of Asiatic elephants (Elephas maximus) in eastern India. This study focuses on the ecological impact of mining on the Kiriburu- Meghahatuburu area and its surrounding biodiversity. 1. Introduction has decreased despite increase in the Forests cover 31 percent of the area of plantation. global land area (1). Forests act as Forest is the second largest land a source of food, medicine and fuel. use in India after agriculture, covering In addition to this, helps to combat 23.34 percent of the total geographical climate change, protect soil, water, area of the country (3) contributing 2% air and biodiversity, provide many of the total global forest area. Jharkhand essential services that contribute to is one of the biodiversity and mineral socio-economic development and are rich state of India, physiographically particularly important for millions of located on Chhotanagpur plateau. people in the rural world (2). Almost 93% The state Jharkhand is blessed with of the forest is composed of naturally rich variety of forest comprising of regenerating forest and 7% is planted dry peninsular Sal (Shorea sp.) forest forest (1). But, an estimated 420 million (45.03%), dry mixed deciduous forest Ha forest area has been lost worldwide (41.21%), moist peninsular Sal forest through deforestation since 1990, as (2.66%), dry deciduous scrub (3.01%) the area of naturally regenerating forest and dry bamboo brake (4.00%) (4). The 54 Maiti and Adhikary (2021) state is covered with 29.61% of total southern West Bengal (13). Jharkhand forest area, which contributes 3.07% in has two distinct elephant population, the total forest area of India (3), where viz. Palamou and Singbhum. The in term of forest canopy, the state has Singbhum population occupies about 3.27 percent of very dense forest (VDF), 2570 km² of the available forest area of 12.15 percent of moderately dense forest Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary and the forest (MDF) and 14.20 percent of open forest of Saranda forest division. Mining has (OF). Despite the increase of total forest been one of the most serious threat to area from 28.34 percent in the year the elephant population (10) in this area. 2005 to 29.61 percent in the year 2017 (5), the percent of tree cover has fallen A comprehensive floral survey was rapidly from 6.295 in the year 2003 to done in Kiriburu-Meghahatuburu Iron 3.495 in the year 2017 (6). ore mines in Saranda forest division and the surrounding areas to assess In India, mining plays an important the plant species diversity in both the role in Industrial and economic growth areas and a comparative account of of the country (7). However, the pollution plant species structure for assessing the that is generated form the mining area impact of mining on the natural habitat affects the soil, water, air, biodiversity and corridor of Asiatic elephant. and human health (8). Open cast mining technique generate more waste and 2. Methodology disturb forest and agriculture land than 2.1 Study area the underground mining technique (9). The floral study focused on Iron ore mines and big steel companies Kiriburu Iron-ore Mine (KIOM) and are walking side by side in Jharkhand Meghahataburu Iron-ore Mine (MIOM) State for last few decades. Singbhum and the surrounding forest area covering is well-known for its large reserve of approximately 314 km2. The study Hematite Iron Ore that constitutes 25% sites were categorized into two regions, of the total known reserve in India (10). Central Block (CB) i.e. core mining area Saranda forest is a dense forest in the and Valley Region (VR) i.e. adjacent forest hilly region of West Singbhum district area and non-forest area. On the degree in Jharkhand. There are seven (7) of ecological disturbance the area was operational, twenty (20) closed iron and segmented into Highly Disturbed area manganese ore mines in the Saranda (up to 3 km radius of CB), Moderately forest division (11). It is a continuous Disturbed area (3 km- 5 km radius of process of opening of new iron ore mines CB) and Least Disturbed area (5 km – as well as establishment of new iron- 10 km) (Fig.1). based industry. The whole area is mined by various iron and steel companies and 2.2 Sampling Technique governed by SAIL. In each site a random quadrat The present distribution of Asiatic was laid and the GPS reading of the elephant is confined to Bangladesh, site was recorded (Table 1). For GPS Bhutan, Myanmar, China, India, reading GARMIN-12 handset was used Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, and all the readings were stored in the Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam GPS memory. The study was conducted (12). The elephant habitat in Central during the moths of March 2006 to India extended over 17000 km² in July 2006 in three phases. Apart from the state of Orissa, Jharkhand, and that, forest walk was done to record the species outside the quadrats (Transact 55 Multidimensional Outlook on Environment ISBN: 978-81-948349-0-8 Fig.1: The map is showing the study sites Walk). required for study was 500 sq. mtrs (50 2.3 Quadrat Method mtrs x 10 mtrs), 25sq. mtrs(5mtrs x 5mtrs) for shrubs and 1sq. mtrs(1mtr x At the outset a species area curve 1mtr) for herbs. In each of the sample was prepared in eastern side of the hill site a quadrat of 500sq. mtrs (50mtrs to find out the minimum size of the x 10mtrs) was laid in the north-south quadrat (14) required for the study at direction to study the tree community for three layers (considered as separate its parameters like Density, Importance communities) such as tree, shrub and Value Index (IVI) and Diversity Index. herb (Fig.2). It was inferred that for tree layer the minimum size of the quadrat 2.4 Data collection and analysis 56 Maiti and Adhikary (2021) Table 1: Locations of study area Locations Quadrat Location GPS Bearing Site-I: Beside KarmpadaLake 22°03’39.5”N 85°16.09’0”E Site-II: Beside Tumberapur spring 22°8’33.5”N 85°20’17.3”E Least Disturbed Area Site-III: On the Meghatiburu-Rangring 22°7’17.4”N tailing pond road 85°17’8.7”E Site-IV: Kumdi pump house 22°8’23.89”N 85°20’13.10”E Site-V: On the side of the road from 22°4’53.7”N Kiriburu to Kalta mine 85°16’24.9”E Moderately Disturbed Site-VI: On Saddle Gate-Kiriburu Road 22°8’17.5”N Area 85°20’9.1”E Site-VII: On Baraiburu road near the 22°8’7”N spring to Karo river 85°20’24”E Site-VIII: Saddle Gate 22°8’53.9”N Highly Disturbed 85°19’54.8”E Area Site-IX:Tatiba village area 22°8’35.8”N 85°21’41.1”E 2.4.1 Taxonomic identification of plant impact zone. species 2.4.2 Species Diversity of tree Plant species identification were Tree trunk Diameter at breast done to prepare plant inventory of the height (dbh) Frequency, Basal Area studied area following standard books were calculated for the identified plant on flora by Hooker (15), Verma et al. species. From the above mentioned (16) and Kumar et al. (17). Names of the parameters Importance Value Index plant species were verified using Bennet (IVI) was calculated utilizing three (18). The help of scientists of Botanical characteristics of the plant community survey of India (BSI), Kolkata was taken as Relative Frequency, Relative Density, in cases of controversy. A comparison of Relative dominance (19). elephant fodder species in CB (central block) and VH (valley region) was done Frequency = (Number of quadrats to find out the possibility of use of in which species occurred x 100) / Total Central Block as a corridor by Asiatic no. of quadrats studies Elephants. Both qualitative as well as Basal area = πD²/4 where, D=dbh quantitative study of vegetation had been done in the least disturbed as well as highly disturbed forest areas of the Fig.2: Quadrat structure 57 Multidimensional Outlook on Environment ISBN: 978-81-948349-0-8 Important Value Index (IVI) = months (23).