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Soil physico-chemical Properties in Coal mining areas of Khliehriat, East Jaintia Hills District, Meghalaya, India

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Author Affiliations

  • 1Department of Botany, Lady Keane College, Shillong, 793001, Meghalaya, INDIA
  • 2 Centre for Advance Studies in Botany, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, 793022, Meghalaya, INDIA

Int. Res. J. Environment Sci., Volume 4, Issue (10), Pages 69-76, October,22 (2015)

Abstract

A study was conducted to assess thesoil physico-chemical properties of five coal mine spoils in chronosequenceand an un-mined site in coal mining areas of Khliehriat, East Jaintia Hills District, Meghalaya, India. The study revealed that the overburden spoils were poor in nutrient content but rich in heavy metals, where higher concentrations were recorded in the summer season than in the dry season. Pearson’s correlation coefficients showed a positive correlation between the soil physico-chemical properties at both p<0.05 and p<0.01. Soil moisture content, total nitrogen, available phosphorus and exchangeable potassium were positively correlated whereas, Mn and bulk density were negatively correlated with age of overburden spoils at p<0.05. In analysis of variance, soil pH, SOC, total N, available P, exchangeable K, Cu, Fe and Mn varied significantly at p<0.05 and p<0.01, whereas Zn varied significantly at p<0.05 between all the study sites. Thus the present study clearly revealed that with the passage of time, overburden spoils showed the sign of restoration. It also highlights the physico-chemical properties of soil in coal mining areas of the state which are otherwise scarce.

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