Open AccessSpatial analysis on impacts of mining activities leading to flood disaster in the Erai watershed, India
Author(s) -
Katpatal Y.B.,
Patil S.A.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of flood risk management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.049
H-Index - 36
ISSN - 1753-318X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1753-318x.2009.01057.x
Subject(s) - flood myth , watershed , coal mining , land use , land cover , water resource management , environmental science , geography , environmental resource management , hydrology (agriculture) , coal , geology , civil engineering , engineering , geotechnical engineering , archaeology , machine learning , computer science
Decisions related to mine management, especially pertaining to dumped material, might lead to several environmental hazards including flood risks in mining areas. Excavation and mine dumps are dominant factors of land use/land cover change in the Erai River watershed of Chandrapur district in Maharashtra, India. Identification and quantification of the extent of mining activities is important for assessing how this change in land use/land cover affects ecosystem components such as aesthetics, biodiversity and mitigation of floods in the Erai watershed. The present study utilizes satellite data of Landsat TM (1989), IRS LISS‐3 (1999, 2007) and CARTOSAT (2007) to study the extent of surface mines and management of mine over burden (OB) dumps of Hindustan Lalpeth coal mines, Chandrapur, India. Image processing techniques in conjunction with GIS have been used to visualize the flood scenario, the reasons for floods and area under impact. The study indicates that the development of the mine OB dump within the river channel on both the sides has been responsible for the 2006 flood within the region. Further increase in OB dump heights may result in the risk of floods of greater potential during heavy rainfall in the future. The study presents a spatial analysis to assess the impacts of OB dumps in the recent flood in the area. The study also spatially represents the area under impact leading to a disastrous situation due to floods. The study also suggests the probable measures that must be adopted to avoid such situations in future in the mining areas.