Subarnarekha river in Jharkhand State of India is drying up.

Origin source is under threat.by
Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Fig.1 In year 2009 the origin source was emitting full of water. Fig.2. In year 2011 source is completely dried.
Fig.3. In year 2009 area near the source well was filled with water and vegetation.

Fig.4. In year 2011, only small rivulet is left. Green vegetation has vanished.
Few days ago I with my three friends decided to visit the origin place of the famous Subarnarekha (Swarnrekha) River of Jharkhand State in India. This was my third visit. My friends were more curious to see how Subarnarekha originates from the place. This place is 30 kms form the Ranchi city, the capital of Jharkhand State. My friends were imagining that area must be full of greeneries and water. As we were approaching the area our excitement was mounting up. Our car stopped few hundred meters before the spot. We came out of the car and looked around in the clean atmosphere. But what we saw was only dry soils and rocks with very less surface water which was also contaminated with iron. Iron contamination was seen the form of thin oil film on the surface water. Source of iron to the water is from the laterite rocks of that area. Laterite rocks contain high amount of iron which is visible in the form of red colors of the rocks.

My friends were more depressed to see the area as it was just opposite to their imagination. No green luster, no water only desert. Two years ago when I visited the area, different origin spots were emitting clean water and vast area was under flowing water. Today except one or two spots all were dried up.

From last two years Jharkhand is not receiving sufficient rainfall which has adversely affected the river flow and its source. The rain water percolates downwards to recharge the groundwater in the catchment areas of Subarnarekha river. Due to lack of rain water the area has gone dry affecting the flow.

The basin of the Subarnarekha is smaller amongst the mutli-state river basins in India. The rain-fed river covers a drainage area of 1.93 million hectares.

After originating near Piska/ Nagri, near Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand, the Subarnarekha traverses a long distance through Ranchi, Seraikela, Kharsawan and East Singhbhum districts in the state. Thereafter it flows for shorter distances through Paschim Medinipur district in West Bengal for 83 kilometres (52 mi) and Balasore district of Orissa. There it flows for 79 kilometres and joins the Bay of Bengal near Talsari. The total length of the river is 470 kilometres.

The name Subarnarekha means “the thread of gold” and the sands of the river and some of its tributaries are auriferous, but without any prospect.

The largest river in Jharkhand, the Subarnarekha flows eastward upto Muri, galloping down the Hirni, Dasam, Johna and Hundru falls. It then takes a sharp turn to the south and flows into the gap between the Ajodya (Bhagmundi) hills on the east and the Ranchi uplands in the west.

The prominent tributaries of the Subarnarekha are Kharkai, Raru, Kanchi, Damra, Karru, Chinguru, Karakari, Gurma, Garra, Singaduba, Kodia, Dulunga and Khaijori.The Kharkai meets the Subarnarekha at Sonari(Domuhani), a neighbourhood of Jamshedpur.


If this river really goes dry it is not only going to affect the different falls but also two big dams Hatia and Rukka. These two dams are used to quench the thirst of half of the population of Ranchi district. These two dams are already under threat of depleting water level.

The declining water levels in major rivers of Jharkhand State much ahead of the dry season is lowering the underground water levels and also affecting cultivation in State. Environmentalists fear negative changes in overall climate will make the region more prone to calamities.

The adverse impacts of global climate changes (CC) have forced the Subarnarekha River to dry up abnormally much ahead of the dry season now like every year in recent times.
Reduced run-off is increasing the pressure on freshwater resources in much of the state, especially with more demand for water as population increases. Freshwater being a vital resource, the downward trends are a great concern.

Tremor felt in stable parts of Jharkhand State of India.

Tremor in Jamshedpur and Chaibasa

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Inspite being a part of the stable block, Jharkhand State of India is being rocked by mild to medium tremors. Fresh incidence of earthquake took place on Thursday morning (26th March,2009) when mild tremor was felt in the area of Jamshedpur and Chaibasa.
The tremor which was measured 3.8 on the Richter scale, hit the region at 10.14 am and lasted about 2 to 3 seconds, said local Meteorological Department in the Ranchi.
According to the Meteorological office the epicenter was recorded at 22.6 degree North latitude and 85.7 degree East latitude. Area is near to Jharkhand and Orissa border.
Five college students and a teacher were injured in Chaibasa town due to “stampede like situation” when they trying to rush out of the college building.
Jamshedpur and its adjoining areas experienced at least four low-intensity tremors in the month of January, 2008.
From last several years many parts of Jharkhand is facing mild to moderate tremors. According to the author there are possibilities that construction of large water dams, water reservoirs, different types of mining and increasing use of groundwater (which is creating vacuum inside the earth) in and around Jharkhand are major reason why these earthquakes are occurring at such frequent intervals.
Present epicenter is very near to mining areas of Iron ore. Though stress and strain developing on the rocks can also be considered as the major cause of the earthquakes.

Jharkhand has faced lots of tremors and geological movements in the geological past and now it is assumed that the plateau is free from any type of tremors or cratonic movement. Evidences of the regional tectonic movement in the plateau area are preserved in the form of faulting, folding, joints etc in the rocks.

Scientists have found evidence that the oldest earthquake followed by tsunami traceable in the earth's history took place more than 1,600 million years ago in what is now Jharkhand. An international team of scientists from India, Japan and Poland has reported the discovery in a paper to appear in the forthcoming issue of the journal 'Sedimentary Geology.' This occurred long before the massive southern land mass called Gondwana land split up and the piece that now forms peninsular India floated north and crashed in the Asian land mass.

Regarding the type of earthquakes occurring in State it may be placed under “Shallow Earthquakes” ("Crustal" quakes) which are caused by faults in the continental plates, as a result from the relative motion of sections of the plates. They are usually 1 to 5 magnitude, less than 15 miles deep, occur random and unpredictable and most of them are not even felt.

Mild tremors struck Jharkhand Plateau on August 1999 for couple of seconds. Few years back too on July and 21st November 1997 Jharkhand Plateau was rocked by the tremors for few seconds. Due to lack of requisite equipment, the Ranchi Meteorological office was not in a position to say something about the intensity. A tremor stronger than these had shaken Chotanagpur Plateau of Jharkhand on August 21, 1988 at 4.40 AM. The epicenters of the Earthquake was 525 km north west of Shillong ( Indo-Nepal border in Bihar state) and was measured 6.6 on the scale. The 1988 quake which lasted for few seconds was reported from Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and Daltongonj. At Ranchi all windows started rattling. Movements of cots was similar to that in a running train.
There was also commotion among birds, and cracks developed in the walls of some houses. Such high intensity earthquake in the Jharkhand State was unnatural. This plateau is peninsular and dead for any crustal adjustment. The high intensity of earthquake in Dharbanga in Bihar State, might have sent tremors to the Jharkhand. One probable cause of the relative strength of shock in Jharkhand, might be transmissibility of the tremors through crystalline rigid and strong crust underlying the Himalayas, the Indo- Gangetic depression, Monghyr region and Jharkhand. The characteristic and consequences of the earthquake of 1988 were similar to those of the shock of January 15, 1934.

Reference:
Rajat Mazumder, A.J. (Tom) van Loon and Makoto Arima (2006)Sedimentary Geology, Volume 186, Issues 1-2, Pages 19-26

Mahadevan, T.M., 2002. Geology of Bihar & Jharkhand. Geological Society of India, Bangalore.

Times of India, March 27, 2009, Ranchi edition.

Leopard taking shelter due to flash flood.

Leopard took shelter on a branch of a tree after Tata Zoological Park was flooded recently by heavy rain which lashed Singhbhum district of Jharkhand State of India.

ELEPHANTS UNDER THREAT IN JHARKHAND.

ELEPHANTS UNDER THREAT IN JHARKHAND, INDIA.

By
Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

A mother elephant, and one-and-a-half-years-old calf died early morning on 2nd June after being electrocuted at Gerua village near Jamshedpur city in India. The pachyderms died after coming in contact with live electric wires that were passing about 7ft above the ground. Villagers had drawn a long wire from from an electric pole by erecting a bamboo pole to get electricity in their houses. As these wires were hanging at a height of 7 feet with the support of the bamboo, the calf elephant came in the contact with the wire when one of the bamboo trunks fell.
Elephants cross this area on a regular basis and the low lying wire caused the trouble. This is a regular phenomenon.
Incidents of elephants falling prey to electrocution have been reported from Koderma and Seraikela district of Jharkhand state.
The animals died on the spot. The shock resulted in the immediate cardiac and brain failure, said an expert.
The elephants were moving in herd in the sanctuary when a high tension carrying 1100 VA power fell on the two elephants. Both elephants died on the spot. In Jharkhand More than 11 elephants have been electrocuted to death in last seven years. The forest officials blame the low height of the electric wires passing through forest areas. The wires get in touch with tree and get broken and fell on the wild animals causing their death.
Recently a wild elephant named Osama Bin Laden has been shot dead in Jharkhand state, after killing more than eleven people.
According to forest officials the killed tusker has trampled to death to 11 people injured 22 in last two months. The same tusker had killed six people in Purulia district of West Bengal on May 21.
It had been terrorising villagers in two states, and had destroyed crops and homes.
Forest officials and a police team tracked the creature down in the state and said it took 20 bullets to silence him.

With paddy crop being ready for harvest in Jharkhand, the farmers of Ramgarh District of Jharkhand are a worried lot. They fear arrival of elephants from the nearby forests trespassing into the fields for food.
At times, the elephants cause havoc. Farmers lament the loss of crops worth lakhs of rupees as rampaging elephants destroy the fruit of their hard work.
Many people have been trampled to death and dozens of houses destroyed by elephants in the villages lining the forest land in recent months. Villagers shirk from moving around freely.
“These elephants have become a real menace now. They kill our folk, they hurt us, damage our crops. In one incident where this elephant dragged a man out of his house and killed him. The government hardly do anything. They do compensate the families immediately after the event but that’s it,” said a local villager.
During the season when paddy fields have standing crops, elephants attack villages and the surroundings to feast on the paddy. Incidences of man-animal encounter have increased over the past few years with forests areas fast depleting and animals looking for food stray into the human territory. Due to this conflict many people have lost their lives.
As larger patches of forest have disappeared from the state. Elephants need massive tracts of land because, much like the slash-and-burn farmers, they are used to crashing through the forest, tearing down trees and shrubs for food and then cycling back later on, when the area has re-grown. As forests are reduced to small pockets, elephants become part of the problem, quickly destroying all the vegetation in an area, eliminating all their resources.
Conflict over resources and access to land increases between elephants and humans as settlements develop around permanent water sources. In Jharkhand the elephants visit human settlement in search of alcohol which is locally made of Mahua tree (Madhuca longfolia ).
In Jharkhand the population of elephants have declined. The elephants population declined to 622 from 772 in the current census. The current census was conducted in May this year.

IMPACT OF MINING IN JHARKHAND STATE, INDIA

IMPACT OF MINING AND INDUSTRIES IN JHARKHAND STATE, INDIA

By

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi


Introduction:
Jharkhand meaning “forest tract” is the ancient name given as a whole, to the forested upland geographically known as the Chotanagpur plateau forming the north-eastern portion of the Peninsular Plateau of India. It is a region of great unevenness consisting of a succession of plateaus, hills and valleys drained by several large rivers such as the Damodar, Subernarekha, Barakar, Brahmani and Baitarani.
The plateau represent a vast area from the western most part of Bihar to the border of West Bengal in the east, and continues somewhat further into West Bengal. On the basis of physiographic consideration, this plateau can be further sub-divided into the Ranchi and Hazaribag plateau.
Jharkhand is one of the richest areas in the whole country, rich in minerals deposit and forests. The region has huge reserve of coal, iron ore, mica, bauxite and limestones and considerable reserves of copper, chromite, asbestos, kyanite, china clay, manganese, dolomite, uranium etc.
The value of minerals extracted in Jharkhand in 2004-2005 was Rs 5,760 crore- approximately eight per cent of the total value of mineral production of the country. The state is a larger producer of fuel minerals and accounts for 10 per cent of their total value in the country. Coal contributes the most -92-93 per cent- to the total revenues from mining received by the Jharkhand government, iron ore accounts for another two to three per cent. Jharkhand receives the maximum mining royalty among the coal-producing states of India.
Since its formation, the Jharkhand government has been laying the red carpet for industrial investment by offering sops.
The Jharkhand government has granted 524 leases for mining various major minerals-206 of which have been granted for coal alone. In addition, 2,717 leases covering an area of 8,426 ha have been granted for extracting minor minerals in the state.
A significant portion of Jharkhand’s population, 44 per cent, is below the poverty line and more than six per cent is still unable to get sufficient food. The poverty ratio in the state is much higher than that of the country.
In the name of national interest the Jharkhand area is witnessing a gigantic industrialization and development process for the exploitation of its natural and human resources. The working of Jharia, Bokaro and Karanpura coalfields started in the 1856. The opening of coal mining in Dhanbad area during the second half of the 19th century and the establishment of the Tata Iron and Steel company in Jamshedpur in Singhbhum district in 1907 marked the beginning of the large scale exploitation of mineral and other industrial resources in this area.

Results and discussion:

The Jharkhand region an account of its richness in some key ores and minerals and its abundance in cheap labour, thanks to its backwardness, otherwise, has been the site of a good many industrial establishment since pre-Independence days and that industrialization has brought with it concomitant ill effects the worst of which is the devastation of its environment. In the name of the development large forests have disappeared, tracts of inhabited land have gone under water. Water in the region around industrial areas have been polluted to an extent far exceeding the prescribed safety level.
In fact polluted water carried down the streams and rivers spreads mischief in distant areas also. Industrial pollution is already playing havoc with the life and health of the people of the region.

The natural wealth of this area contrasts vividly with the desperate poverty of the people who inhabit it. This region has been far the ages and the homeland of aboriginal races such as the Mundas, Asurs, Santhals, Oraons, Ho, Kharias etc. These indigenous groups have been the worst hit by the large scale exploitation of the natural resources of the region through the development of mines, industries and commercial exploitation of forests. The majority of them live in a state of semi-starvation through out the year. For centuries the indigenous people of Jharkhand lived in harmonious relationship with their environment. They have developed a culture which is closely related to nature. Since their lives are closely related to nature, any adverse impact on the environment in which they live will adversely affect their lives also, and vice-versa.
Mine areas often have a monochromatic appearance. Coal mining areas are depressingly black, iron ore town are red, ochre lends a yellow colour and limestone makes everything chalky white. Fine particles of the ore spread as a uniform layer of dust on every available surface in these areas.
The pervasiveness of dust is the strongest indication that mining is not a benign activity. Unless it is carefully planned and thoughtfully carried out, it can barren the land, pollute water, denude forests, defile the air and degrade the quality of life for people who live and work in the vicinity. Modern technology has enormously magnified our ability to extract minerals. In the process, it has also gravely threatened human lives and the environment.

In Jharkhand mining activity ranges from the small, completely manual stone quarries to mechanical mines. With increasing mechanization, mining equipment has grown larger and more powerful. Entire landscapes are altered in a relatively short period of time.



Fig: Coal mines destroying top soil and Forest cover
Mining ruins the land, water, forests and air. The loss or pollution of natural resources degrades the quality of human life in these areas. Increasingly, mineral-based production units like coal-fired power plants, steel plants and cement factories are located near the mines. A cluster of thermal power stations are planned near the major rivers of Jharkhand.

A precise estimate of the amount of agricultural land lost to mining is not readily available. Every mining enterprise, however, means the conversion of land to such purposes as roads, railways and ropeways for mineral transport, townships for housing miners and manager, infrastructure for administrative purposes, land for stockyard and preliminary processing operations. In effect, the total land affected by mining is many times larger than the simple lease area.

The large scale mining and allied activities going on in the Jharkhand region have caused severe damage to the land resources of the area. Vast areas of rich forests and agricultural land belonging to the indigenous people have been laid waste because of haphazard mining. Eliminating of existing vegetation and alteration of soil profile due to open cast mining operations, including shifting of overburden and reject dumps, have caused severe soil erosion and silting of adjoining courses and degraded the productive capacity of the lands in the area. Excessive underground mining, especially of coal, is causing subsidence of land in many areas as a result of which such lands have been rendered unsafe for habitation, agriculture and grazing. In 1980’s the coal mining industry became identified as a major cause of damage to the environment, with more than 80 sq. kms. of land being destroyed every year. Damage to land can also result from underground and stockyard fires in coal mining areas. Coal is normally accompanied by methane gas which is released when the coal is fractured and crushed during production. This gas can ignite spontaneously and it is extremely difficult to stop an underground coal seam from burning once it ignites. The normal practice is to seal off the tunnels where the fire has started so that it is starved of oxygen. This process may take years. In the Jharia coalfields, an underground fire has raged for more than 70 years, covering more than 2000 hectares, and has reportedly consumed 40 million tones of coking coal.

Impact on forest:
The Website of the Jharkhand government says that forests in Jharkhand cover about 29 per cent of the state’s total geographical area. Feeding minerals to meet the nation’s insatiable appetite has taken its tall on the state- rampant mining for decades has turned large tracts of forests into wastelands. During the 80’s, coal companies acquired thousands of hectares of forests in Jharkhand for mining operation in Damodar valley. In Singhbhum district a similar devastation of forest lands happened for extracting iron ore. According to the Forest Survey of India’s State of Forest Report, during an assessment published in 1997, Jharkhand had 2.6 million ha of forest. In 1999, it had 2.2 million ha, a loss of 0.4 million ha of forest cover. The forest cover in the Damodar valley coalfield, once 65 per cent, stands at only 0.05 per cent today.
Saranda, once so dense that even the sun’s rays couldn’t penetrate it, has Asia’s largest sal (Shorea robusta) forests and is an important elephant habitat. Today, uncontrolled mining for iron ore, both legal and illegal, is destroying not just the forest, but also the wildlife, apart from the livelihoods of the local tribal communities. The impact on the forests has been significant. According to the state of forest reports, between 1997 and 1999, about 3,200 ha of forest was lost in the Singhbhum region. Between 2001 and 2003 some 7,900 ha of dense forests were lost in the East and West Singhbhum districts. Saranda too has been affected, and further degradation will have serious consequences for its considerable biodiversity.
Impact on water:

It is now established that much of the groundwater pollution is caused by human activities, especially mining. Mining wastes pollute streams and rivers. Ore fines and toxic substances carried by rain water into nearby water courses, alters their chemistry and often makes the water unfit for human use. By locating mineral treatment facilities near the mines, water pollution problems get worse. These units use enormous quantities of water for washing the ores. The untreated effluents, slimes or tailings are often released into neighbouring streams or lakes. In many cases, the latter are the sources of water supply to the population.
The large scale mining operations going on in the region have adversely affected groundwater table in many areas with the result that yield of water from the wells of adjoining villages has drastically reduced. Further, effluents discharged from mine sites have seriously polluted the streams and under groundwater of the area. Acid mine drainage, liquid effluents from coal handling plants, colliery workshops and mine sites and suspended solids from coal washeries have caused serious water pollution in the region, adversely affecting fish and aquatic life.
Damodar and Subernrekha river valley are the cradle of industrialization in Chotanagpur plateau region. Damodar is the most polluted amongst Indian rivers and ironically almost all polluting industries are government owned. About 130 million litre of industrial effluents and 65 million litre of untreated domestic water finds way to Damodar drainage system every day. A study of the area showed that one coal washery alone was discharging about 45 tonnes of fine coal into the Damodar every day and there are as many as eleven coal washeries in the region with an installed capacity of 20.52 million tones annually.
Today the picture of Damodar or Damuda, considered a sacred river by the local tribals, is quite like a sewage canal shrunken and filled with filth and rubbish, emanating obnoxious odors. Other major rivers of the region are also seriously polluted. The Karo river in the West Singhbhum is polluted with red oxide from the iron ore mines of Noamundi, Gua and Chiria. The Subernrekha shows a different type of pollution which is even more hazardous in nature. Metallic and dissolved toxic wastes from TISCO, Jamshedpur and HCL Ghatsila and radioactive wastes from the uranium mill and tailings ponds of the uranium corporation of India limited at Jaduguda flow into Subernrekha and its tributaries.
The release of different toxic metals like arsenic, mercury, chromium, nickel etc. from the coals and mine spoil heaps in Damodar and its tributaries have caused severe damage to water quality. Continuous dewatering by underground mines also affects water resources. These mines annually pump out millions of litres to drain mine galleries and release it into nearby water courses. This has caused flooding, silting, water logging and pollution in the mining areas of Jharkhand. They have also reduced the surrounding water table, and also reduced the available groundwater.

Impact on air:

Mineral dust is a pervasive feature of all mining areas. It is generated by wind sweeping dust from water heaps, blasting and the use of heavy machinery. Blasting also produces noxious fumes that are released into the atmosphere. Air pollution in the mining areas in Jharkhand state has caused respiratory diseases and eye ailments.
According to the report published in the citizen’s report by Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi in 1984-85, the Roro asbestos is dumped into the open which has endangered not only the lives of the mine workers but also of those living in the surrounding areas. Dust generated by mining and mineral based industries has also reduced agricultural productivity in Jharkhand State.
The metal content in fly ash goes on increasing with decrease in particle size. This observations have been found to have conformable behaviours in the fly ash study of Damodar coals. In exclusive coal mining areas also high incidence of pneumoconiosis, up to 11%, has been reported in the Jharia coal field region.

A case study of Roro asbestos mining area:
To assess the impact of this abandoned chromite and asbestos waste, a fact-finding team (FFT) was constituted by the mines, minerals & People (mm &P) and Jharkhandis' Organisation for Human Rights J.O.H.A.R. in December 2002
Roro hills is located about 20 kilometers west of Chaibasa, the district headquarters of West Singhbum, Jharkhand.
The region has had an active history of mining operations for about seven decades starting with the mining of magnetite. Roro hills were mined for chromite and asbestos by major industrial houses like Tatas and Birlas. This hill range is contiguous to Jojohatu hill which is also mineralized with chromite. TISCO, which used to mine chromite from Roro, stopped operations before 1958 as they struck better deposits elsewhere. Asbestos mining was started by Hyderabad Asbestos Cement Products Ltd. after the area was abandoned by Tatas and Kesri, who were mining magnetite and chromite.
The highest elevation of the Roro hill is approximately 600 meters above the level of the plains where the settlements of Roro and Tilasud village are located. The entire hill range is well wooded.
Interview with ex-workers from the Roro mines from Roro and Tilaisud villages revealed that most of them had suffered or are suffering from low back pains, blindness or severely reduced vision, and respiratory illnesses. Several of those interviewed complained of coughing blood in sputum. FFT examined three chest radiographs (taken between 1998 and 2000) of workers who complained of chest pain and respiratory distress. The chest radiographs revealed several radio-opaque opacities in the middle and lower lobes of both lungs. These suggest some form of interstitial lung disease (pneumoconioses, pulmonary tuberculosis as comorbid conditions). Physical examinations were not carried out. Most patients described their conditions as tuberculosis but given their occupational histories, pneumoconiosis as either the principal diagnosis or a co morbid condition cannot be ruled out and merits further investigation. Several workers with history of working in the asbestos mines complained of low back pain. One worker, who had worked at the pumping station for over 10 years was suffering from epigastric hernia These findings suggest presence of ergonomic musculoskeletal disorders.

Several workers complained of significantly diminished visions. Some had cataracts, and evidence of eye injuries. A few workers complained of deafness subsequent to their exposure to loud sounds in the mines – reportedly secondary to exposure to loud noise with no protection of ears during blasting operations.
Future very bleak:
The dominant mining companies of the world are now showing great interest in India, especially in the Jharkhand region. The entire Jharkhand area, rich in minerals, will now throw open for plunder and loot by these vested interests. With the expansion of the mining activities, land degradation, air, water and noise pollution will attain alarming proportions. This will have serious economic impact upon the villages and their agrarian population. The existing agricultural and forests land will shrink further with the eventual emergence of more wastelands. More and more indigenous people will be forced to move out of their hearths and homes to brick kilns, stone quarries, etc. in search of livelihood. Their wealth will be forcibly taken away from them leaving behind heartbreak, destruction and degradation.
The author will like to exhort different political leaders and the prominent individuals of Jharkhand to set up an environmental army and demand that industrial planning in the area must be weighed against the prospective loss of environment and the existing industrial establishment must conform to WHO standards for treatment effluxes and to ILO standards of workplace environments.

Reference:

1. Areeparampil, M.SJ. (!995). Displacement due to mining in Jharkhand, in Mining Environment, B.D. Bhagat and D.N. Thakur (Eds.), Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.
2. Singh, J. (1985), Upper Damodar Valley: A study in Settlement Geography, Inter-India Publication, New Delhi.
3. Citizens report- Rich lands and poor people (2008), Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi.
4. http://www.birsa.org/rororeport1.htm
5. http://www.blacksmithinstitute.org/images/india/pid94-3.jpg


Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi
Geologist and lecturer Department of Env. And Water Management, J. N. College,
Ranchi University, Ranchi, India.
Email: rch_nitishp@sancharnet.in