Modeling land-degradation vulnerability in coal-mined environs through geospatial and AHP techniques: potential...

Coal is the most important and abundant source of energy in India, where 66% of the thermal power is generated from the combustion of coal. Therefore, understanding how coal-mining activities increase land-degradation risks and vulnerabilities in different land uses is essential to devise site-specific restoration plans for complementing the national targets of land degradation neutrality (LDN). This study was carried out in the Chirimiri coal-mining region of Chhattisgarh, India, employing geospatial methods. The Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Operational Land Imager (OLI) data corresponding to 2000, 2010, and 2020 were digitally classified using maximum-likelihood algorithm in ERDAS IMAGINE and ArcGIS platforms. Spatio-temporal satellite data analysis revealed that an area encompassing ~ 112 km² (48.9%) of forests and 6.63 km² (37.6%) of waterbodies was lost due to the expanse of mining between 2000 and 2020. Consequently, the degraded land and built-up areas rapidly expanded during the same period accounting for a net increase of 101.1 km² (47%) and 9.13 km² (322%). The mining disturbances degenerated the soil health, drastically reducing soil pH, soil organic carbon (SOC), and available nitrogen (N) in the mined area exacerbating the region's vulnerability to degraded lands. Land Degradation Vulnerability Index (LDVI) map shows that mined area was highly vulnerable, followed by barren wasteland, agriculture, and forest area, while destructive mining and other associated activities in the past 20 years made 52% of the landscape vulnerable. The study discusses the implications of effective eco-restoration for minimizing the land degradation processes and building resilient ecosystems for mitigating land degradation in coal-mined landscapes.