Bonfring International Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management Science
Online ISSN: 2277-5056 | Print ISSN: 2250-1096 | Frequency: 4 Issues/Year
Impact Factor: 0.541 | International Scientific Indexing(ISI) calculate based on International Citation Report(ICR)
Impact of Mining and Quarrying in Muvattupuzha River Basin, Kerala - An Overview on Its Environmental Effects
K. Maya, V. Santhosh, D. Padmalal and S.R. Aneesh Kumar
Abstract:
Expanding human requirements and economic developments impose immense pressure on our resource base and environmental setting. The situation is rather alarming in Kerala, a coastal state with low percapita land and resource availability. Lack of adequate studies on the resource extraction and its impact on environment is a major setback in proper planning and developments in the area. Here we report the environmental pressures resulted from the extraction of building and filling materials from the Muvattupuzha river basin located in the outskirt of one of the fast developing urban-cum-industrial centres in Kerala ? the Kochi city. The midland and lowland areas of the basin close to Kochi city are dotted with 667 quarries (Hard rock 374; Laterite 111; Soil 182) and 298 sand mining (Instream 181; Floodplain 117) locations. The unscientific extraction and transportation of these resources impose severe adverse impacts on various environmental components of the region. The study warrants the imminent need for regulating the mining and quarrying activities, in addition to mitigation measures for reviving the natural environmental setting of the river basin environment.
Keywords: Mining and Quarrying, Environmental Effects, Muvattupuzha River, Kochi City
Volume: 2 | Issue: Special Issue on Geospatial Technology Development in Natural Resource and Disaster Management
Pages: 36-40
Issue Date: July , 2012
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