Reclaiming wastelands of Jharia coalfield, eastern India

The Jharia Coalfield, India's chief storehouse of prime coking coal, has been mined extensively since 1925. Unplanned mining operations, coupled with a lack of concern for either land reclamation or the environmental Impacts of mining, have led to the creation of large areas of industrial wasteland. Since the nationalisation of the coal raining industry in 1974, some attempts to remedy this situation have been made but there remains much to be done. This paper evaluates these industrial wastelands in terms of their origins and physical problems and describes a strategy for land reclamation.