Impact of Open Cast Coal Mining on Fish and Fisheries of Simsang River, Meghalaya, India

Abstract

Present paper deals with the impact of coal mining activities on the water quality and fish diversity of Simsang River from 2009 to 2015. Six sampling sites were selected on the basis of affected and unaffected areas of coal mining activities. Certain water quality attributes such as water colour, temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, free CO2, chloride, total alkalinity, total dissolved solids, nitrate, ammonia, phosphate and sulphate were analysed along with the assessment of relative abundance of fishes. The estimated value of studied water quality parameters such as pH, dissolved oxygen and total alkalinity indicates degradation of water quality due to the effect of acid mine drainage (AMD) of coal mining. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) showed highest concentration of 4-ring PAH and Benzo[a]anthracene was the most important pollutant in the water collected from affected sites. Relative abundance of fish diversity was also estimated less in affected area of the River. A total of 64 fish species under 20 families were collected with highest number in cyprinidae family. The calculated value of diversity indices reflected the declining trend of fish diversity in the coal mining affected areas of the river due to degradation of water quality.