Ecological restoration of coal fly ash-dumped area through bamboo plantation

The present study entails the phytoremediation potential of different bamboo species on 5-year-old FA-dumped site near Koradi thermal power plant of Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. The selected FA-dumped site was treated with farmyard manure, press mud, and bio fertilizer followed by plantation of six promising species of bamboo namely Bambusa balcooa Roxb., Dendrocalamus stocksii (Munro.) M. Kumar, Remesh and Unnikrishnan, Bambusa bambos (L.) Voss, Bambusa wamin E.G. Camus, Bambusa vulgaris var. striata (Lodd. ex Lindl.) Gamble, and Bambusa vulgaris var. vittata Riviere and Riviere. The experimental results indicated that the organic input in the FA-dumped site nourished the soil by improving its physico-chemical, and biological characteristics. The results revealed the contamination of the site with different trace elements in varied quantity including Cr (89.29 mg kg^-1), Zn (84.77 mg kg^-1), Ni (28.84 mg kg^-1), Cu (22.91 mg kg^-1), Li (19.65 mg kg^-1), Pb (13.47 mg kg^-1), and Cd (2.35 mg kg^-1). A drastic reduction in concentration of heavy metals in FA was observed after 1 year of bamboo plantation as compared to the initial condition. The results showed that bamboo species are good excluders of Ba, Co, Cr, Li, Ni, Mn, and Zn, whereas they are good accumulators of Cd, Pb, and Cu. The values of biochemical parameters, such as pH, total chlorophyll, ascorbic acid (AA), and relative water content of all the bamboo leaves ranged from 5.11-5.70, 1.56-6.33 mg g^-1, 0.16-0.19 mg g^-1, and 60.23-76.68%, respectively. It is thereby concluded that the bamboo plantation with biofertilizers and organic amendments may indicate adaptive response to environmental pollution on FA-dumped site.