DEPARTMENT OF SWASTHAVRITTA SHREE GULBKUNVERBA AYURVEDA MAHAVIDHYALAYA GUJARAT AYURVEDA UNIVERSITY, JAMNAGAR

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1 Mining Its effect on Environmental health and Ayurveda Scholar SEJAL KUCHHADIA MEERA JIVANI Guide DR. ARPAN BHATT (HOD SWASTHVRITTA, SGAM) DEPARTMENT OF SWASTHAVRITTA SHREE GULBKUNVERBA AYURVEDA MAHAVIDHYALAYA GUJARAT AYURVEDA UNIVERSITY, JAMNAGAR 1

2 Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef or placer deposits which forms the mineralized package of economic interest to the miner. In urbanized environments mining may produce noise pollution, dust pollution and visual pollution. Mining not only affect biodiversity but it also reduce plantation. Hence it affects flora and fauna. In the process of manufacturing Ayurvedic medicines various herbs and minerals are used. Mining affects plants and minerals due to deforestation and unnecessary removal of minerals. Hence it indirectly hampers the Ayurvedic treatment.

3 Impacts of mining on the environment which can adversely affect the animate world also can be summarized as under: Damage to lands Noise pollution Dust Truck traffic Sedimentation and erosion Land subsidence Vibration from blasting and air blast

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5 In the light of above stated point it may be visualized that mining which happens to be a need of society today has both positive and negative impacts on the animate world and the environment as a whole. Therefore to understand the effect of mining in detail and to look into the possible remedies to prevent and treat the hazards occurring by it, the present study had been understand based on following aims and objectives. To know the importance of mining To understand mining and its effect on environment To understand mining advantages and disadvantages of To understand the impact of mining on Ayurveda

6 This study being literary review study was based on literary material available through various sources. An extensive data mining was carried out from various texts, peer reviewed journals, periodicals, websites of the concerned subjects etc. Finally, the document has been prepared by going through and utilizing the relevant portion of the reference material compiled under respective captions:-

7 Depending upon the requirement, mining may be divided into two major types: Open cast [surface] mining Underground mining Open cast [surface] mining-surface mining is basically employed when deposits of commercially viable minerals or rock are found closer to the surface. Surface mining includes strip mining, open-pit mining, mountaintop removal mining and dredging.

8 Advantage Surface mining includes economic and financial benefits for miners and communities and a safer alternative to pit mining. Disadvantage Disadvantage includes environmental impacts, such as erosion of soil and contamination of land. Underground mining-underground mining is carried out when the rocks, minerals, or precious stones are located at a distance far beneath the ground to be extracted with surface mining. Two prominent ways through which underground mining is done are: Underground hard rock mining Underground soft rock mining

9 Advantage Underground mining can mine as deep as the administration permits excavation to take place. If there is a shaft with headgear, then mining can take place until that depth. If it is accessed by horizontal adits, it can mine until the lowest adit upwards. Disadvantage Underground mining is not suited to the exploitation of a low grade, wide, ore body composed of disseminated mineralization high cost per ton of ore, ventilation, more hazardous to workers

10 In Ayurveda, there is a branch named Rasa Shastra which advocates use of various metals and minerals, used for making Aushadhi and Bhasma. After proper purification, medicine can be used internally. Soil doesn t contain only one mineral, but it contains lot of other minerals too. Hence while doing mining to obtain only one mineral, it also erode other precious minerals too. For example, while obtaining sand stone from red soil, it also erodes iron ore and from iron ore we obtain loha bhasma and others. So indirectly it affects Ayurvedic medicine and it causes reduction of medicines too. Many medicinal plants are on verge of extinction due to mining. For example, at Barda hill of Porbandar region, many variety of herbs grow. Out of them, more than 300 herbs are useful in manufacturing Ayurvedic medicine. But due to illegal mining occurring over that region, it causes reduction and extinction of some plants. Mountains are responsible for rain and wind direction. Due to mining at mountain region, mountains are shredded off. Hence it affects nature and climatic condition too.

11 Mining and its effect on humans: Coalworker's pneumoconiosis, Toroku arsenic disease and Itai Itai disease are caused due to mining. Itai Itai disease was the name given to mass cadmium poisoning. People suffer from excessive pain, softening of the bones and kidney failure due to itai itai disease. One of the most important impacts on the environment of mining is subsidence, subsidence caused by gold mining in the Johannesburg area. Exposure to nuclear radiation is affecting the health of miners and villagers at Jadugoda in Jharkhand State, which is India s first uranium mining. A health survey carried out by the State Health Department, to investigate the radiation effects, found 31 out of 712 people to be suffering from health disorders, which may be due to exposure to radiation..

12 The simple concept, too much and unjudicial mining is good for nothing apply here. Mining benefits everyone including the government and that is why the mining industry is widely supported. Mining plays a great role in economic interest and provides job opportunity to a large number of workers but too much of mining leads to pollution, adversely affect the health of people and creates problems in biodiversity. Mining is not something discovered in the recent years but it had been discovered before so many years back. But its adverse effect is increasing in today s era only due to its large and improper utilization. Many medicinal plants are on verge of extinction and some are endangered due to mining. Hence excessive mining is harmful to entire ecosystem.

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