IJSRP, Volume 2, Issue 10, October 2012 Edition [ISSN 2250-3153]
Apurba Ratan Ghosh , Ruma Banerjee
Abstract:
The water quality parameters of the river Damodar flowing across the coal mines and industrial area was carried out in order to evaluate its suitability of irrigation application. Damodar River basin is the repository of 46% coal reserves in India and is one of the richest mineralized zones of the country with a high growth of mining and industrial development, demographic and urban growth extending over a large area of Jharkhand and West Bengal. The present study deals with the in depth investigation on spatio-temporal variations in chemical constituents, the distribution pattern of lead, manganese and iron and qualitative evaluation of the river water flowing across the coal mines and industrial areas. The results showed the pronounced temporal and spatial variations of river-water chemistry contaminated with mines and industrial effluents, viz., the mean concentration (mg/l) of heavy metals was in the order of Fe (0.536)> Mn (0.036) >Pb (0.019). The significant levels of electrical conductivity, sulphate and chloride in the river water were observed in the study area. The phenomenal combination of coal mining and allied activities can be related with the acceptability as well as suitability of its agricultural uses.