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Assessing the vulnerability of groundwater due to open pit coal mining using DRASTIC model: a case study of Phulbari Coal Mine, Bangladesh

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Abstract

Impacts on groundwater were carried out of an open pit coal mining area located in Phulbari under Dinajpur District in Bangladesh. The exploration of coal following the open pit method will influence the groundwater resources in and around the mine due to pumping of groundwater as well as precipitated water which will be accumulated in the floor of the open pit mine. Groundwater is the main source for agriculture and domestic use of that region. For qualitative analysis four water samples out of eight showed high contamination level (Cd > 3) ranging between 4.613–8.619 (6.6), two samples showed medium contamination level (Cd = 1–3) ranging between 2.171–2.785 and two samples showed the low contamination level (Cd < 1) ranging between 0.506–0.952 value before mining activities. After mining activities the predicted concentration index for groundwater samples will show the very high contamination level (Cd > 3) ranging between 155.868–1627.256. Before mining activities Cd ranged between 0.51–8.62 and HPI ranged between 2.04–4.42, but after mining activities Cd values are expected to be 155.86–1649.7 and HPI ranges between 22.53–204.58. The DRASTIC vulnerability index is computed for evaluation of three conditions (conventional DRASTIC, Modified DRASTICCdHPI for before and after mining activities). For conventional DRASTIC the vulnerability index is found ranging from 81–167 of which 31% area is high vulnerable. Before mining activities the vulnerability index was found ranging from 87–182 of which 30% area was high vulnerable but after mining activities the vulnerability index will be found ranging from 185–375 of which 24% area will be high vulnerable, 35% will be very high vulnerable and 41% will be extreme vulnerable. Selected eight heavy metals were analyzed using AAS. The prediction is done by following the data of Raniganj coal field, Maharashtra coal fired power plant in India and Poltegor coalmine, Poland. Two methods such as contamination index (Cd) and heavy metal pollution index (HPI) were used to evaluate the contamination levels. The software used for this study is Arcview 3.3 for the preparation of location map and DRASTIC vulnerability maps. The groundwater vulnerability assessment was done using DRASTIC model in GIS environment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Disaster Management, Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur, 5400, Bangladesh

    Emdadul Haque

  2. Department of Geology and Mining, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi, 6205, Bangladesh

    Selim Reza

  3. Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi, 6205, Bangladesh

    Raquib Ahmed

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  1. Emdadul Haque
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  2. Selim Reza
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  3. Raquib Ahmed
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Correspondence to Selim Reza.

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Haque, E., Reza, S. & Ahmed, R. Assessing the vulnerability of groundwater due to open pit coal mining using DRASTIC model: a case study of Phulbari Coal Mine, Bangladesh. Geosci J 22, 359–371 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12303-017-0054-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12303-017-0054-0

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