Limestone Mining RE Lanare
Limestone Mining RE Lanare
Limestone Mining RE Lanare
MEGHALAYA, INDIA
R. E. Lamare and O. P. Singh*
ABSTRACT
Meghalaya, a small state in north eastern region of India is abundantly blessed with coal and limestone. About
9% of the country's total limestone reserves are distributed in the state. Mining is carried out by open cast
method of mining which is taking place at both large scale and small scale levels. The limestone mined is used
chiefly for the manufacturing of cement, lime and edible lime etc. Scientific studies revealed that loss of forest
cover, pollution of water, soil and air, depletion of natural flora and fauna, reduction in biodiversity, erosion of
soil, instability of soil and rock masses, changes in landscape and degradation of agriculture land are some of
the conspicuous environmental implications of limestone mining. In this paper we have reviewed the status of
limestone mining and its environmental implications in Meghalaya, India. Results on impact of limestone
mining on quality of water, soil and air, degradation of forest and availability of water are summarized and
discussed. Based on overall impact of limestone mining in the area it is suggested that all stakeholders
particularly the owners of mines and cement plants should give necessary attention to environmental issues
prevailing in the area. Initiatives for proper management of natural resources such as water, soil and forest
should be taken to halt further loss of forest cover and top soil and to prevent deterioration of water quality, soil
degradation, air and noise pollution.
Keywords: Limestone mining, Cement Plants, Environment Issues and Problems, Meghalaya.
INTRODUCTION
India is a diverse country endowed with potentially million tonnes (92%) are under remaining resources
rich mineral resources. According to the Indian category. The state of Karnataka alone accounts for
Mineral Yearbook Report (2013), India produces about 28% of the total limestone resources in India
around 90 minerals. Of these, 4 are fuel minerals, 11 followed by Andhra Pradesh (20%), Rajasthan
metallic minerals, 52 non-metallic and 23 minor (12%), Gujarat (11%), Meghalaya (9%),
minerals (building and other materials). This Chhattisgarh (5%) and remaining 15% by other
indicates that the mining industry in India is a very states.
important industry essential for the economic
development of the country. Limestone is a non- However in terms of production, the state with
metallic mineral and is a raw ingredient required for maximum production is Andhra Pradesh accounting
the manufacturing of cement, an important about 21% of the total cement production, followed
construction material. The total estimated resources by Rajasthan (20%), Madhya Pradesh (13%), Tamil
of limestone of all categories and grades in India are Nadu (9%), Gujarat, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh
184,935 million tonnes. Of this, 14,926 million (8% each), Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra (4%
tonnes (8%) are under reserves category and 170,009 each) and the remaining 5% is contributed by Odisha,
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History of Limestone Mining and Cement Plants Cement started quite early. Later, the Lafarge Umiam
establishment in Meghalaya Mining Pvt. Ltd., (LUMPL) began extensive
limestone mining in Shella-Nongtrai area of East
The history of limestone mining in Khasi Hills of Khasi Hills of Meghalaya for its utilisation in
Meghalaya seems very old. As per the Assam District Chhatak, Bangladesh by Lafarge Surma Cement
Gazetteers published in 1906, limestone quarrying Ltd., (LSC). The limestone mined form Meghalaya is
and trading in Khasi Hills have existed as early as in transported to Bangladesh via a 17 Km long cross
eighteenth century and it was a lucrative business to border Conveyer belt. This activity has been
the people of Sylhet in Bangladesh and Khasi Hills of performed in the area since 2005. The LSC start
Meghalaya. From the earliest days of British rule, it is producing and selling cement from 2006. However,
described that the lime quarries were situated all along mining of limestone was halt in 2007 by the Supreme
the southern face of the Khasi Hills. Limestone was Court of India in this area due to the pending
mostly used to make lime by burning it all along the environmental clearance from the court. However,
banks of the Surma River. It was also reported that later in 2011 mining in the area was resumed.
lime transportation from Khasi Hills to Sylhet was
done during the rainy seasons by using the natural The origin of limestone mining in Jaintia Hills of
mode of transportation (i.e. through river) using a flat Meghalaya is not very well documented. The Jaintia
bottom canoe. This attracted a large number of Cement Limited was the first private cement
Europeans who largely controlled the limestone manufacturing plant established in Sutnga Village in
mining, production and trading of lime in this part of 1986. Extensive mining of limestone in Jaintia Hills,
India (Allen, 1906). Thus, limestone mining in Meghalaya started after 2004 after establishment of
Meghalaya is taking place for long time, however Cement Manufacturing Company Limited (Star
earlier it was small scale and for local uses only Cement) in Lumshnong and then followed by other
mainly for the production of edible lime. privately owned cement manufacturing units in the
area. However, utilisation of limestone in Garo Hills
Later, limestone was used for the production of for cement production started in 1991. Presently,
cement after establishment of cement manufacturing more than a dozen of cement manufacturing plants
industries in Meghalaya. The Mawmluh-Cherra are in operation in the state.
Cements Limited (MCCL) was the first cement
manufacturing unit in the state. It was originally METHOD OF MINING
established by some unknown industrialists in
Cherrapunjee in 1955 under the banner name of Limestone extraction in Meghalaya is carried out by
Assam Cements Limited. The company was later open cast method of mining. It is taking place at both
acquired by the Government of Assam in 1964 and large scale and small scale levels. The large scale
thereafter by the Government of Meghalaya in 1974 extraction of limestone is taking place in Jaintia Hills
(Dolloi, 1992). This indicates that large scale mining mainly for the manufacturing of cement. While both
of limestone in Cherrapunjee for the production of large scale and small scale mining are in practice in
Sohra, East Khasi Hills (EKH) for production of Cement Plants in Meghalaya
cement, quicklime and edible lime.
In last decade a number of cement plants were
The mining in Jaintia Hills is mostly done by cement established in Meghalaya with maximum numbers
industries. However, due to unique land holding found in Jaintia Hills alone. Presently, the cement
system in Meghalaya, mining of limestone is also plants are the main consumers of limestone rocks
carried out by individual land owners. The mining found in the state. The cement manufactured in
process carried out by the cement industries is Meghalaya is utilized in the state as well as
efficient being mechanical using heavy machinery for transported to other states of the country. A list of
excavation. On the other hand, extraction by cement plants operating in Meghalaya is given in
individual land owners is semi-mechanical and slow. Table 2.
Generally, extraction of limestone involves
mechanical removal of overburden (using Limestone Mining Leases in Meghalaya
bulldozers), manual drilling the blast holes, blasting
of rocks, manual shattering (sizing) of the limestone In recent years, Government of Meghalaya has also
rock and then finally loading and transportation of granted limestone mining leases to several companies
limestone to the cement plants. Figure 2 shows for mining of limestone, its utilisation and ultimately
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for manufacturing of cement. A list of mining leases pollution of water, soil and air, depletion of natural
granted to different companies operating in flora and fauna, reduction in biodiversity, erosion of
Meghalaya is given in Table 3. In addition to leases soil, instability of soil and rock masses, changes in
granted by the government, mining of limestone is landscape and degradation of agriculture land are
rampant because of the unique land ownership in the some of the conspicuous environmental implications
state. Hence, mining in Meghalaya is predominantly of mining. The severity of environmental problems
in private hands. The extraction/mining of the rocks depends on the extent of mining and ecological
and minerals is carried out by the individual land sensitivity of the mining site. Both terrestrial and
owners in whatever way they deem fit and profitable. aquatic ecosystems are affected and the effects could
In most cases, the method of mining carried out was extend beyond the boundaries of the mining area and
found unscientific, disruptive and degrading to the be for a long term. Nartey et al. (2012) also reported
environment. Lack of reclamation responsibility and that limestone quarrying in the Manya Krobo District
stringent regulated mining procedure further magnify of Ghana do have some negative effects on the
the consequences of mining in Meghalaya. environment. Impacts includes lowering of water
tables, habitat destruction, encroachment of waste
Environmental Impact of Limestone Mining into agricultural land, destruction of buildings due to
cracks, pollution of rivers, loss of biodiversity,
Exploitation of rocks and minerals affect destruction of crops, unclean rain water harvested
environment at its various stages of mining, from roofs and health related problems include
processing and utilisation irrespective of its scale of inhalation of dust resulting in respiratory tract
mining. Denudation of forest, water depletion, infections.
forest area into non-forest area was observed. The total Degradation of Soil
loss of forest in the area was found to be around
1265.36 ha from 2005 to 2011 within a radius of 5 km. Mining of rocks and mineral has an irreversible
They suggested for immediate necessary steps to impact on soil both in terms of its quantity and
control conversion of forest land into non-forest land. quality. Excavation of land leads to loss of top fertile
It is also known that forest depletion and land soil and alters the quality of soil in surrounding areas
degradation have inevitable associations with in terms of its physical, chemical and
extensive loss of habitat and biodiversity. Forest microbiological properties (Ghose, 2004). Removal
depletion is also intimately linked with loss of top of top soils is the basic operations involved in mining
layer of fertile soil and productivity. Recently, LULC processes resulting into elimination of seed bank and
was analyzed by Somendro and Singh (2015) in root stocks (Parrotta et al., 1997), depletion of
Literature review revealed limited studies on impact Mining is known to affect water resources severely
of limestone mining on soil quality. Lamare and both in terms of its quantity and quality. Changes in
Singh (2015) reported land degradation and alteration water levels and flow, availability of potable and
of landscape topography by dumping of irrigation water, changes in sediment flow and
overburden/spoils and lime waste material due to deposition, degradation of water quality, reduction
artisanal and small scale limestone mining in and degradation of habitat of aquatic flora and fauna
Meghalaya. Further, excavation of limestone resulted and decrease in abundance and diversity of aquatic
in removal of fertile top soil and generation of spoil species are some of the adverse impacts of mining.
and overburden deteriorated the aesthetic beauty of Miller (1999) pointed out that water resources,
the proximate landscape. undoubtedly are being polluted, diverted and
disturbed from their natural conditions as a result of
Sharma et al. (2013) emphasised that continuous mining activity. As any other mining, the mining of
mining of limestone in Solan District of Himachal limestone rocks is also reported to cause alteration in
Pradesh has induced dilapidation of the land the quality of surface water and shallow groundwater
environment of the area and deterioration of soil (Naja et al. 2010). Iwanoff (2006) found high content
quality. This is chiefly due to the negative effects of of calcium, bicarbonates, sodium and chloride salts in
mining activities such as deforestation, mining, and the water of streams and rivers receiving a significant
dumping of mining waste etc. Intensive quarrying of volume of mine water generated from open cast
limestone in Mussoorie Mountains was reported to limestone mining areas in Northern Germany.
have led to loss of top soil and consequently
acceleration of soil erosion in the area resulting into Deterioration of water quality due to limestone
siltation of nearby rivers and streams and agricultural mining is also reported from India. Ravichandran et
fields (Rajwar, 1982). Similarly, the soil regime of al. (2009) reported deterioration of water quality in
Madukkarai Limestone mine was also reported to be Madukkarai limestone mine which was found
affected either directly or indirectly indicating low responsible for exceeding the standard limit for water
nutrient content compared to the soil in agricultural quality parameters like total dissolved solids, total
areas (Ravichandran et al., 2009). Hanief et al. 2007 hardness and chloride. However, no significant
reported alteration in soil texture due to limestone adverse impact of limestone mining on water quality
mining in Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh. They was found in lower Himalayas (Prasad and Bose,
found high percentage of sand and drastically low 2001), Biramitrapur, Orissa (Mishra et al. 2004) and
percentage of silt and clay in the mining affected soil. Vijayraghovgarh village, Madhya Pradesh (Ahmed et
Sulphate content in the soil near limestone mines and al., 2007) and Chandrapur, Maharastra (Soni, 2007).
cement plants in Rajasthan was reported to be high
(GSI, 2009). Assessment of water quality in limestone mining
areas of Meghalaya was carried out in East Jaintia
Etim and Adie (2012) reported that mining of Hills (Lamare and Singh, 2014, 2016a, b) and East
limestone supported leaching of metals from the top Khasi Hills (Lamare and Singh, 2015). In East Jaintia
soil into the surrounding area. Soil samples were Hills, water samples of streams near limestone mining
found to range from uncontaminated to moderately and cement plants were analysed. It was found that
contaminated categories in terms of heavy metal both limestone mining and cement plants have
contamination coupled with low organic matter negative impact on the physicochemical
content. In contrast to these findings, Afeni et al. characteristic of water of the area. Study found