Impact of Coal Mining on Tiger Habitats in India

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

IMPACT OF COAL MINING ON TIGER HABITATS IN INDIA INTRODUCTION STATES WITH MOST ENDANGERED TIGER HABITATS RESULTS As India’s popula- The Singrauli coalfield data tion is rising, so is shows that there is 11% of coal- its energy demand field overlapping on Tiger habi- and dependency on tats. Hutar and Auranga area coal. For India, data results prominently display coal is the primary source of energy that 29% of area is extending because it is inexpensive and abundant- over the Tiger habitat. The rest ly available as a natural resource. How- of the coalfields in both the re- ever, extraction of coal is not only car- gions are precariously close to bon intensive but also requires diver- the habitat region, which may sion of large scale forestlands. Im- have significant impact on the portantly, the loss of forestlands have Tiger routes and movements. huge repercussions on the tiger popula- tion. The purpose of this project is to pro- duce a map identifying the most number of coalfields impacting Tiger habitats. As a number of coal re- SINGRAULI COALFIELD RESULTS serves lie in the central region of India which are also home to 35% of Tigers, the project is studying the states of Madhya Pradesh, Jhar- The state with highest percent- khand, Chhattisgarh and Ma- age of coalfield overlap is Ma- harashtra while giving sam- harashtra with 66.91%. Jhar- ple results from three coal khand has 41.70% of coalfield fields: Singrauli (Madhya extension to Tiger area where- Pradesh), and Hutar and Au- as Madhya Pradesh and ranga (Jharkhand). Chhattisgarh have 6.91% and 1.25% accordingly. METHODOLOGY Select by attribute tool was used to choose the three coalfields HUTAR AND AURANGA COALFIELDS to study: Singrauli, Hutar and Auranga. CARTOGRAPHER: Reclassify tool was utilized to reclass Spandana Battula the values as per water, forests and DATE: 10 May 2016 COURSE: GIS for non-forest areas. Intersect tool was International Applications used to combine Tiger presence and COORDINATE SYSTEM: WGS 1984 UTM Zone 44N coalfield layers to show the overlap SOURCES: features. To calculate the area, calcu- ML Infomap, Global Land Cov- er Facility (Univ. of Maryland), late geometry tool was applied to IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, Greenpeace India, Bar- know the area of each coalfield. Over- croft India, and CoalPost lay analysis of Singrauli, Hutar and ACKNOWLEDGMENT: Prof. Patrick Florance, Auranga coalfields was done by com- Aishwarya and Caroline bining the specific coalfields and Tiger presence data. Then the statistics of the Tiger presence and coalfield overlap areas were taken and divided to the total coalfield area. .

Copy Link

Recommended publications

Geographic Information System (GIS) Representation of Coal-Bearing Areas in India and Bangladesh
Geographic Information System (GIS) Representation of Coal-Bearing Areas in India and Bangladesh Compiled by Michael H. Trippi and Susan J. Tewalt Open-File Report 2011–1296 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior KEN SALAZAR, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey Marcia K. McNutt, Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 2011 For product and ordering information: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS Suggested citation: Trippi, M.H., and Tewalt, S.J., comps., 2011, Geographic information system (GIS) representation of coal-bearing areas in India and Bangladesh: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2011–1296, 27 p., available only at http:// pubs.usgs.gov/of/2011/1296. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted material contained within this report. Contents Overview ........................................................................................................................................................................ 1 India ..............................................................................................................................................................................
[Show full text]
Megaspores and Other Plant Remains from Lower Gondwana of Singrauli Coalfield, District Mirzapur, U.P
MEGASPORES AND OTHER PLANT REMAINS FROM LOWER GONDWANA OF SINGRAULI COALFIELD, DISTRICT MIRZAPUR, U.P. By B. s . Trivew Botany Department, Luckmtw Unifersity (Received for publication on October 10, 1952) I ntroduction M icro sto res (Ghosh and Sen, 1948 ; Mehta, 1942 and 1943; Sitholey, 1943; and Virkki, 1945) and pollen grains (Bose, 1950; Rao, 1936; and Rao and Vimai, 1950) have received far larger attention in this country than the megaspores; there arc very few studies of the latter. Mehta (1942) in his investigations on the microspores from shales of M irzapur mentions, “ Three megaspores (319-388(*) with triradiate marks and warty or granular surface”, but these have been neither figured nor fully described. Later, Mehta (1943) published a photo graph of a megaspore, but the description was very meagre. The spore is given no name, and no relationship has been established. Sitholey (1943 and 1943 d) discovered a large number of megaspore casts from the Triassic of Salt Range, Punjab, which he named as Triletes Safmii. Saxena (M/S) has recorded a few megaspores probably from the Lower Gondwana of South Rewah, Central India, but the details of his studies have not been published so far. From the Dbekiajuli beds of Assam (7 Upper Miocene or ? Lower Pliocene) Sahni eta l. (1947) figure with out any description a single megaspore (265 n). Ghosh and Sen (1948) have figured a few bodies about whose affinities (p. 85) they are doubt ful (pi. 13, figs. 128, 129, pi. 14, figs. 130, 131, 132, 136; etc.) but from the figures some of them appear to me to be megaspores.
[Show full text]
How Coal Mining Is Trashing Tigerland
Author Contact Ashish Fernandes Ashish Fernandes [email protected] Research coordination & North Karanpura case study Nandikesh Sivalingam Kanchi Kohli [email protected] Research Photo Editor Aishwarya Madineni, Vikal Samdariya, Arundhati Sudhanshu Malhotra Muthu and Preethi Herman Design GIS Analysis Aditi Bahri Ecoinformatics Lab, ATREE (Kiran M.C., Madhura Cover image Niphadkar, Aneesh A., Pranita Sambhus) © Harshad Barve / Greenpeace Acknowledgments Image Sudiep Shrivastava for detailed inputs on the Forests of Sanjay Dubri Tiger Hasdeo-Arand and Mandraigarh sections, Kishor Reserve near Singrauli coalfield Rithe for inputs on the Wardha and Kamptee © Dhritiman Mukherjee / Greenpeace sections, Bulu Imam and Justin Imam for their expertise on the North Karanpura section, Biswajit Printed on 100% recycled paper. Mohanty for feedback on the Talcher and Ib Valley sections and Belinda Wright for feedback on the Sohagpur and Singrauli sections. CONTENTS Executive Summary 01 9. Hasdeo-Arand (Chhattisgarh) 51 10. West Bokaro (Jharkhand) 55 Introduction 09 Central India,Tigers, Corridors and Coal 11. North Karanpura (Jharkhand) 60 How Coal is Trashing Tigerland 17 Case Study I 63 The North Karanpura Valley - On the edge Methodology 21 12. Wardha (Maharashtra) 00 Coalfield Analysis 25 13. Kamptee (Maharashtra) 00 1. Singrauli (Madhya Pradesh - Chhattisgarh) 27 Case Study II 87 2. Sohagpur (Madhya Pradesh - Chhattisgarh) 33 Chandrapur’s tigers - Encircled by coal 3. Sonhat (Chhattisgarh) 35 4. Tatapani (Chhattisgarh) 37 Alternatives: Efficiency and Renewables 101 5. Auranga (Jharkhand) 39 References 109 6. Talcher (Odisha) 41 Glossary 7. Ib Valley (Odisha) 47 110 8. Mandraigarh (Chhattisgarh) 49 Endnotes 111 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY As India’s national animal, the Royal Bengal Tiger Panthera tigris has ostensibly been a conservation priority for current and past governments.
[Show full text]
Inventory of Geological Resource of Indian Coal I/ 1
Table-1 INVENTORY OF GEOLOGICAL RESOURCE OF INDIAN COAL (As on 01.04.2010) (Resource in million tonne) State/ Coalfield/ Type of coal Depth Proved Indicated Inferred Inferred Total (Exploration) (Mapping) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 WEST BENGAL 1.RANIGANJ COALFIELD MEDIUM COKING 0-300 194.70 1.60 0.00 196.30 300-600 15.30 16.90 0.00 32.20 MEDIUM COKING Total 210.00 18.50 0.00 228.50 SEMI-COKING 0-300 45.75 14.19 0.00 59.94 300-600 109.51 113.23 23.48 246.22 600-1200 32.79 305.07 144.75 482.61 SEMI-COKING Total 188.05 432.49 168.23 788.77 NON-COKING COAL 0-300 9544.54 1865.79 260.99 11671.32 300-600 1682.46 3444.57 2345.87 7472.90 600-1200 13.22 1887.28 1668.82 3569.32 NON-COKING Total 11240.22 7197.64 4275.68 22713.54 TOTAL FOR RANIGANJ 11638.27 7648.63 4443.91 23730.81 2.BARJORA COALFIELD NON-COKING COAL 0-300 114.27 0.00 0.00 114.27 NON-COKING Total 114.27 0.00 0.00 114.27 TOTAL FOR BARJORA 114.27 0.00 0.00 114.27 3.BIRBHUM COALFIELD NON-COKING COAL 0-300 0.00 609.96 40.01 649.97 300-600 0.00 3597.38 523.19 4120.57 600-1200 0.00 1173.64 48.58 1222.22 NON-COKING Total 0.00 5380.98 611.78 5992.76 TOTAL FOR BIRBHUM 0.00 5380.98 611.78 5992.76 4.DARJEELING COALFIELD NON-COKING COAL 0-300 0.00 0.00 15.00 15.00 NON-COKING Total 0.00 0.00 15.00 15.00 TOTAL FOR DARJEELING 0.00 0.00 15.00 15.00 TOTAL FOR WEST BENGAL 11752.54 13029.61 5070.69 29852.84 JHARKHAND 5.RANIGANJ COALFIELD MEDIUM COKING 0-300 220.00 8.87 0.00 228.87 300-600 49.23 8.30 0.00 57.53 MEDIUM COKING Total 269.23 17.17 0.00 286.40 SEMI-COKING 0-300 51.40 0.00 0.00 51.40 300-600 0.00 40.00
[Show full text]
138 Coal India Limited
CONTENT Member of the Board 05 Management During 2017-2018 06 Banker, Auditors and Corporate Office 07 Chairman’s Statement 08 Performance of CIL at a glance 12 (Graphical Representation) Operation Statistics 17 Brief Profile of Directors 32 Director’s Report 38 Comments of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India on Standalone Accounts of Coal India Limited 86 Auditor Report on the Standalone Financial Statements for the year ended 31st March 2018 88 Comments of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India on Consolidated Accounts of Coal India Limited 94 Auditor Report on the Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31st March 2018 96 Observation of Auditor on Standalone Financial Statements and Management Explanation 103 Observation of Auditor on Consolidated Financial Statements and Management Explanation 106 Secretarial Auditor Report 145 Report on Corporate Governance 163 Sustainable Development Report 181 Management Discussion and Analysis Report 182 Standalone Accounts of CIL 205 Consolidated Accounts of CIL & its Subsidiaries 269 GREEN INITIATIVE IN CORPORATE GOVERNANCE Dear Shareholder, Pursuant to the initiatives undertaken by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, encouraging the companies to reduce the carbon footprint by enabling them to send the Annual Report etc to the Shareholders through electronic mode, your company has already taken the following steps:- Emails have been sent to all shareholders who have not exercised the option to receive the Annual Report 2017-18 in physical mode. They have been provided with a link (URL) to the website of COAL INDIA LIMITED for downloading the Annual Report 2017-18. For members who have not registered their email addresses, physical copy of Annual Report 2017-18 is being sent by the permitted mode.
[Show full text]
Mining the Forests August 18, 2020
Mining the forests August 18, 2020 Ishan Kukreti Correspondent Down To Earth Laying the ground 1. On June 18, Prime Minister Narendra Modi put 41 new coal blocks for auction. 2. This was in line with a long list of amendments to the mining sector being undertaken by the government- MMDR amendment, 100 % FDI. 3. This time, there’d be no end-use restriction. : More on this in the upcoming presentations 4. Investment of Rs. 20,000 crore in coal gasification: More on this in the upcoming presentations 5. “To bring coal sector out of lockdown.” But there is a problem: Coal is where the forests are. Opening up new frontiers 1. Jharkhand has already approached the court. 2. Bander block in Bander coalfield in Maharashtra has been removed, Chhattisgarh has asked the removal of five blocks in ecologically sensitive area 3. Moreover, these blocks don’t come with prior environmental and forest clearances and will lead to displacement. 1. The signal that the government is sending by putting up these blocks without getting FC first is that it has no regard for the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to Schedule Areas) Act or the Gram Sabha consent under the Schedule Tribe and Other Forest Dweller (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act. But the question is: How many coal mines does a nation need? Especially when majority of the mines already auctioned or allotted are not operational Brief History of SC Coal Case 1. In 2014, the SC cancelled 204 coal mines allotted between 1993 and 2011 2. In 2015, the government enacted the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 to auction these mines.
[Show full text]
LOK SABHA DEBA~S (English Version)
Thirteenth Series. Vol. XXIII. :'\0.18 ')olld'l~. April 15. 2002 Chaitra 25.1924 (Sak;l) LOK SABHA DEBA~S (English Version) Ninth Session (Thirteenth Lok Sabha) (Vol. XXIII cOlltains Nos. 11 to 20) LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT NEW DELHI Pnce R.\ 5{){){J EDITORIAL BOARD G.C. Malhotra Secretary-General Lok Sabha Dr. P.K. Sandhu Joint Secretary P.C. Chaudhary Principal Chief Editor Y.K. Abrol Chief Editor Vandna Trivedi Senior Editor P. Mohanty Editor (Onginal English Proceedings included in English Version and Original Hindi Proceedings included in Hindi Version will be treated as authoritative and not the translation thereof) CONTENTS (Thirteenth Series Vol. XXIII, Ninth Session, 200211924 ($aka) No. 18.IIonclay. Aprt115, 2OO2IC ....... 25,1124 (s.ka) SuBJECT COUJMHS WELCOME TO PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION FROM GHANA OBITUARY REFERENCES 1-3 WRITTEN ANSWER TO QUESTIONS Starred Question Nos. 301 to 320 Unstarred Question Nos. 3240 to 3469 PAPERS LAID ON THE TABLE 401 BUSINESS ADVISORY COMMITTEE Thirty - fourth Report 401 COMMITTEE ON PETITIONS Fifteenth Report 402 STANDING COMMITTEE ON RAILWAYS Tenth Report 402 MOTION RE: JOINT COMMITTEE ON STOCK MARKET 402.403 SCAM AND MATTERS RELATING THERETO MATTERS UNDER RULE 3n 403-409 (i) Need to provide telephone facilities in Singhbhum Parliamentary Constituency, Jhaft(hand Shri Laxman Giluwa 483 (ii) Need to convert rail line between Rewari- Bikaner via Hissar and Ratangam-Degana into broadguage Shri Ram Singh Kaswan 403-404 (iii) Need to raise royally rate of Coal for Orissa Shri Ananta Nayak 404 (iv) Need for early construction of S.Y.L. Canal between Punjab and Haryana Shri Rattan Lal Kataria 404 (v) Need to provide stoppage of Navjeevan and Tapti Express trains at Vyara Railway station, Gujarat Shri Mansinh Patel 404-405 (i) SUBJECT COlUMNS (Vi) Need to provide financial assistance to the Government of Madhya Pradesh for providing relief to the people whose crops have been affected by hailstorms Shrl Virendra Kumar 405 (vii) Need for all-round development in Chanchal Sub-Division Headquarters in Maida District.
[Show full text]
MADHYA PRADESH December 2008
MADHYA PRADESH December 2008 www.ibef.org Madhya Pradesh | December 2008 State Economy and Socio Economic Profile 2 www.ibef.org Madhya Pradesh | December 2008 Madhya Pradesh — a snapshot • Madhya Pradesh (MP) is located in central India with an area of 308,00 Sq.km. and a population of 60 million. • Madhya Pradesh was originally the largest state in India until November 1, 2000 when the state of Chhattisgarh was carved out of the same. • The State shares borders with Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. • The state is divided into 48 districts (272 tehsils and 313 community blocks). • Forest area of the state constitutes 31 per cent of the area of the total state area and 12.44 per cent of the total forest area of India. • The state‘s central location gives it the advantage of being the hub of India‘s national logistics network. • MP‘s administrative capital is Bhopal and its largest city is Indore. 3 www.ibef.org Madhya Pradesh | December 2008 Socio-economic snapshot Parameters Madhya Pradesh Population (census 2001) Population (2001) 60.3 million Density (2001) 196 per Sq.km. Sex ratio (census 2001) 920/1000 males Principal languages Hindi Literacy rate (census 2001) 64.1 per cent Major minerals Copper ore, lime stone, manganese ore etc. Major industries Cement, textiles ,minerals, edible oil Major crops Soyabean, gram, pulses like Masoor and Arhar GSDP at current prices in 2004-05 US$ 23,983.63 million NSDP at current prices in 2004-05 US$ 9.8 billion Annual per capita income at current prices in 2004-05 US$ 254 Domestic airports Bhopal and Indore Sources: Official website of Government of India, www.india.gov.in; Department of Rural Development, Government of Madhya Pradesh 4 www.ibef.org Madhya Pradesh | December 2008 Economic Profile • Endowed with large mineral resources of coal, diamond, limestone, methane etc.
[Show full text]
59 11.2 Description of Environment … 60 11.3 A
11.0 SUMMARY & CONCLUSION 11.1 Project Location and Project Description … 59 11.2 Description of Environment … 60 11.3 Anticipated Environmental Impacts and Mitigation Measures … 62 11.4 Environmental Monitoring Programme … 63 11.5 Additional Studies … 63 11.6 Project Benefits … 64 11.7 EMP / Environment Management Plan … 64 11.1 Project Location and Project Description 11.1.1 The Government of India, Ministry of Coal has allotted Marki Barka Coal Block, over an area of 700 ha (7 sq km) to the Madhya Pradesh State Mining Corporation Ltd. for non power sector / merchandise mining. The block is located in Singrauli Coalfield, in Singrauli district, of Madhya Pradesh. The geographical location of the block is given at Figure 1 of this document. 11.1.2 The area is fairly flat with gentle undulations with ground sloping towards NE to E. The ground elevation varies from 374 mRL to 418 mRL. There are no perennial water courses in the proposed lease area. Seasonal water courses flow from centre of the block towards North East, South and SW. The drainage of the area is controlled by Mahan river flowing one km to three km NE of the block. Dhamar river, a tributary of Mahan river, flows from West to East on Southside, outside the block. 11.1.3 The Singrauli Coalfield is located mainly in Madhya Pradesh (M.P.) and partly in Uttarpradesh (U.P.). The coalfield is divided in two parts. The eastern part called Mohar sub- basin contains all presently working mines of UP. The western part spread over vast area has large coal occurrences.
[Show full text]
Despatch of Coal
Contents 003 Members of the Board 004 Management During 2010-2011 005 Bankers, Auditors and Regd. office 006 AGM Notice 010 Chairmans Statement 015 Performance of CIL at a glance (Graphical representation) 019 Operational Statistics 024 Brief Profile of Directors 028 Directors Report Important Communication 071 Comments of Comptroller & to Members Auditor General of India The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has taken a Green Initiative in the Corporate Governance by allowing 072 Auditors Report & Managements Reply paperless compliances by the companies and has issued circulars, stating that 081 Report on Corporate Governance service of notice/ documents including Annual Report can be sent by e-mail to its members. To support this green initiative 099 Management Discussion and Analysis of the Government in full measure, members who have not registered their e- 115 Consolidated Accounts of mail addresses, so far, are requested to CIL & its Subsidiaries register their e-mail addresses in respect of electronic holdings with the Depository through their concerned Depository 157 Standalone Accounts of CIL Participants. Board of Directors Shri N. C. Jha Shri Alok Perti Ms. Anjali Anand Srivastava Prof. S. K. Barua Dr. A. K. Rath Dr. Sheela Bhide Shri Kamal R. Gupta Dr. R. N. Trivedi Shri Mohd. Anis Ansari Ms. Sachi Chaudhuri Shri R. Mohan Das Shri A K Sinha Permanent Invitees Shri D. C. Garg Shri A. K. Singh Shri Pradeep Bhatnagar Members of the Board as on 12th July, 2011 Functional Directors : Shri N. C. Jha : Chairman (Additional Charge) Shri N. C. Jha : Technical Shri N. C. Jha : Marketing (Additional Charge) Shri R.
[Show full text]
Coal Bed Methane - Fiscal Terms
Experience & Opportunities For Methane Projects in India DirectorateDirectorate GeneralGeneral ofof HydrocarbonsHydrocarbons NewNew Delhi,Delhi, IndiaIndia PRESENTATION HIGHLIGHTS ¾ Major coal & lignite fields of India ¾ Coal & lignite resources of India ¾ CBM resources of India ¾ Market and Infrastructure ¾ Favorable geological factors for development of CBM ¾ CBM policy initiative in India ¾ Current activities in CBM exploration & production ¾ Prospects of CBM in the awarded blocks ¾ Expected production potential of CBM in India ¾ Major Forthcoming CBM Exploration Opportunities ¾ Development of CMM/ AMM ¾ Concluding Remarks COALCOAL ANDAND LIGNITELIGNITE FIELDSFIELDS OFOF INDIAINDIA && THETHE RESOURCESRESOURCES BASEBASE MAJOR COAL & LIGNITE FIELDS OF INDIA GONDWANA COALFIELDS Gondwana Coalfields n 20 Ref. Coalfield/Coal Belt Ref. Coalfield/Coal Belt a TertiaryTertiary LignitefieldsCoal // Lignite t s Lignite Fields No. No. i k a MAHANADI P C h i n a 1. Raniganj 8. Ib-valley N VALLEY Delhi e p 15 2. JhariaDAMODAR 9. Talchir BELT 19 a l VALLEY NARMADA r 3. Bokaro 10. Satpura 18 14 a BELT BELT m 5 4 2 n 4. N. Karanpura 11. Wardha PRANHITA 6 a 17 y GODAVARI 7 13 10 3 1 M 5. Singrauli 12. Godavari BELT 7 8 SON 9 Kolkata 6. SohagpurVALLEY 13. Birbhum 11 BELT Mumbai 7. Korba 14. Rajmahal 12 Bay Of Arabian Bengal TERTIARY COAL / LIGNITE FIELDS Sea Ref. Coal/Lignite Field Ref. Coal/Lignite Field Chennai NicobarNicobarNicobarNicobarNicobarNicobarNicobarNicobar No. No. 16 16 15. Assam-Meghalaya 18. Barmer-Sanchor Islands Islands Islands Islands Islands Islands Islands Islands 16. Neyveli 19. Bikaner Andaman Andaman Andaman Andaman Andaman Andaman Andaman Andaman Andaman 17. Cambay 20. Jammu & Kashmir RESOURCERESOURCE BASEBASE 50000 Area in sq.km.
[Show full text]
The Study of Land Use / Land Cover Changes Around Singrauli Coal Fields, India Using Remote Sensing
THE STUDY OF LAND USE / LAND COVER CHANGES AROUND SINGRAULI COAL FIELDS, INDIA USING REMOTE SENSING Dr. Narender Verma Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005,Uttar Pradesh, India; Mob. +919956949406; email: [email protected] Key Words: Forest Cover, Land Use, Singrauli coalfield, Wasteland. Abstract: In the present study an attempt has been made to study the land use and land cover changes around Singaruli Coalfields over a period of two decades. The study is based on the visual interpretation of geo-coded false colour composite (FCC) IRS-1A (Indian Remote Sensing) LISS II satellite imagery on 1:50,000 scale and Survey of India Toposheet number 63L/12 published in 1970. From the results obtained significant changes in the land use and land cover have been detected. For example forest cover has declined from 36 percent in 1970 to 26 percent in 1991. Similarly cultivated area too has shown a declining trend from 53 percent in 1970 to 49 percent in 1991. Rapid expansion of mining activity and growth of township are primarily responsible for these changes. Introduction Land use is the way in which, and the purposes for which, human beings employ the land and its resources: for example, farming, mining, or lumbering. Land cover describes the physical state of the land surface: as in cropland, mountains, or forests. The term land cover originally referred to the kind and state of vegetation (such as forest or grass cover), but it has broadened in subsequent usage to include human structures such as buildings or pavement and other aspects of the natural environment, such as soil type, biodiversity, and surface and groundwater.
[Show full text]