REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES AND MINE PITS, KERALA

Presentation by the EXPERT COMMITTEE

2012

ISSUES
Nearly 8,000 to 10,000 quarries

Roughly a third abandoned

Flooded quarries sites of accidental deaths of humans/animals Pose huge concerns to ecological health

REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

CURRENT STATE
Spread across the state wherever quarriable rocks occur No zoning laws governing siting of quarries Stoppage of quarrying : choice of operator Pre-FY 2011, no regulations on closure of quarry or rehabilitation

REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

CURRENT STATE (Contd)

Safer and secure sites for various anti-social activities Many quarries waterlogged seasonally or

perennially to variable depths

Despite vastness of abandoned quarry lands, currently, no express recommended use

REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

GENERIC TYPES
TYPE L-shaped GEOMETRY L-shaped TYPE OF EXTRACT Rock /rubble

U-shaped

U-shaped; a deeper pit

Rock /rubble
Rock /rubble Laterite brick/red earth; brick and tile clays China clay

Composite U-in-L Walled shallow Box ; walls of Box shaped variable height; flat or stepped floor; China clay Large geometric pits or L-shaped

pits/mines cuttings with benches/steps

(under MMRD Act,

1957)

REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

PRE-TREATMENT FOR REUSE

Protective barrier Hoist warning signs Stabilize shoulders/rims

Ease steepness at head of cutting/slope

Rough levelling of quarry floor Re-develop and manage disturbed lower order streams Remove assorted refuse in quarry
REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

ROCK SYSTEMS OF HARD ROCK QUARRIES Rock types: Charnockites, Gneisses and Granites Structures: joints (fractures), shears, micro & micro-folds, foliations and lineations Litho-static pressure keeps such weak planes tightly closed

REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

ROCK SYSTEMS OF HARD ROCK QUARRIES Abandoned quarries flooded most of the year Some quarry basins behave like sealed basins Examples are: Peroorkada (Tpuram), PTP Nagar (Tpuram), Beside the Kovalam Beach Road (Tpuram), Sargalaya, Iringal (Kozhhikod)

REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

MENU FOR SUCCESSFUL REUSE

Each reuse option proposed is

site-specific

and

needs validation by a

group of specialists

All measures need periodic monitoring and maintenance.

Key to success of the reuse programmes is the

identification of suitable indicators - biodiversity, soil,

water and air- (to monitor the quality).

REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

REUSE OPTIONS (Contd)

L-Shaped-Quarry Floor
1. Solid waste composting yard 2. Mini-biogas plant site

6. Silvopasture
7. Forage culture

3. Modern Crematoria
4. Mini-solar electric farms 5. Plant nurseries

8. Mini-livestock farms
9. Roadside rest area 10.Quarry learning site

REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

REUSE OPTIONS (Contd)

L-Shaped-Quarry Wall/Rim and Shoulder
Greening by planting Vetiver in artificial gutters on
quarry walls, built by rock bolt and concrete/ rigid plastic slabs Stabilize rim/shoulder by hydro-seeding, geotextile carpeting and planting of tree species
REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

REUSE OPTIONS
U-Shaped Deep Quarries
1. Water reservoir
2. Aquaculture 3. Artificial aquifer 4. Water recharge point- laterite , clay pits etc
REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

REUSE OPTIONS (Contd)

U-Shaped Shallow Quarries
1. Community Composting /Biogas site 2. Aquaculture 3. Pisciculture 4. Horticulture

REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

REUSE OPTIONS (Contd)

Rogue Quarries (No express reuse possible )
Yet, amenable only to rim/shoulder stabilization by hydro-seeding, geo-textile-carpeting and tree

planting.
Erection of protective metallic barricade around the rim, display hazard warning signs and depth charts recommended.
REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

REUSE OPTIONS (Contd)

Laterite Brick and Red Earth Pits
a. Protective green fencing, and warning

signs and crash barriers (if wall abuts

on edge of right of way of road) Pre-Treatment: b. Re-vegetation the pit c. A Green belt of Casurina/Bamboo with Lemon grass,

rim and
shoulder

Vetiver along the rim and shoulder of

d.

Vetiver hedge row to protect rim and

wall of quarry

REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

REUSE OPTIONS (Contd)

Laterite Brick and Red Earth Pits
a. Garden land (Cashew, tuber crops,
Reuse measures: yams etc.) b. Real estate

floor
Water storage

c. Amphitheaters
theaters

and

open-air

& conservation Recharge pit with recharge bores. structure REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

REUSE OPTIONS (Contd)

Tile & Brick Clay Pits
Topsoil of undisturbed patches in the ela gathered and stored. Pre-Treatment Saved topsoil put in place in the abandoned cultivation. Reuse Initiate co-op farming in such areas pit to resume

REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

REUSE OPTIONS (Contd)

Tile & Brick Clay Pits: Abandoned, Battery of pits in an ela
PreTreatment a. If water-logged, fencing and water-hazard warnings along with display of depth charts

a. Pisciculture of edible and ornamental fish

b. Farming sites of aquatic plants (e.g., lotus, Reuse water lily) c. Source of irrigation water and domestic use after treatment.

REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

REUSE OPTIONS (Contd)

China Clay Mine
Protective fencing, and warning signs

Depth charting
Re-vegetation of rim and edge (e.g., vetiver, lemon grass) Pre-Treatment Masonry/earthen gutters to divert surface runoff away from the mine pit to protect erosion of walls & water quality A Green belt of Casurina/Bamboo in the buffer zone

REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

REUSE OPTIONS (Contd)

China Clay Mine
Pisciculture: Edible and ornamental fish Cultivation of aquatic flowering plants like lotus, water lily Reuse measures Source of water for lift irrigation, industrial and domestic use after treatment. Develop childrens park, picnic ground,

play ground, open air theatre etc. after

landscaping the land around the back shore as in Sargalaya, Kozhikode district REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

MENU FOR SUCCESSFUL REUSE

Each reuse option proposed needs careful validation by a group of specialists in the Quarry Reuse Advisory Cell, Office of DMG, GoK. All measures need periodic monitoring and maintenance.

Key to success of the reuse programmes is the identification of suitable environmental health indicators biodiversity, soil, water and air- (to monitor the quality).

REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

AVOIDANCE OF RISK TO COMMUNITY

Provide metallic barricades as a safe

barrier
Erect caution boards/depth charts in sufficient numbers and sites Legally entrust LSGs with powers to implement safety measures

REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

QRAC: AGENCY FOR REUSE ASSISTANCE

Panel of multi-disciplinary experts at QRAC

to approve, modify, re-design DPR tasks

for reuse Establish QRAC (Quarry Reuse Advisory Cell), @ DMG to validate and/or design/approve

reuse measures/ DPR raised by LSGs

REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

QUARRY DATABASE, KERALA

Geo-spatially A basic referenced for database on quarries currently does not exist. information environmental for plugging management, control and

revenue loss to the State.

A format for geospatial data collection appended in the report DMG in charge of populating maintaining and updating the DB

LEGAL MEASURES
The Kerala Minor Mineral Concession Rules,
1967 allow stoppage of quarrying at any time. No express closure clause The draft Minor Mineral Regulation and Development Act, 2011 of GOI requiring quarry closure plan is under consideration of GOK.

Hence, adoption of MMRD, 2011 by GOK is of

high priority.
REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

LEGAL MEASURES (Recommendations)

The SC recommends take over (of quarries by

the LSG) of all categories abandoned for

more than 5 years to implement reuse tasks.

Government may enable by new rules for this

based on legislation or executive order.

REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

FINANCING REUSE

A Cess on tradable quarry extracts

A share (up to 20% ) of tax or royalty Issue a Kerala State Quarry Reuse Bond A quarry restoration superfund with the support of GOI (special to Kerala) Bumper Lottery for quarry-eco-restoration fund

WB/ADB
rehabilitation

loan

for

environmental

SUCCESS STORIES OF REUSE

CESS Complex, Akkulam, Tpuram KSRTC Bus station, Chathannoor Sargalaya, Kozhikode dist.

REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

SUCCESS STORIES (Contd)

KRL taps ponded water from a cluster of abandoned Commercial Palakkad Farm Irrigation with ponded quarry water, quarries ornamental to supplement fish farming, industrial water needs

Palakkad & Wayanad dist.

REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

SUCCESS STORIES (Contd)

Domestic abandoned water clay supply mine, sourced from Magalapuram,

Tpuram.
English India Clays refines clay with recycled

harvested water from abandoned mine pits,

Tpuram. Prime real estate (of TCS) is restored mine pit, Tpuram.
REUSE OF ABANDONED QUARRIES ETC.-2011

We acknowledge quarry operators, government departments and above all Professional staff of Mining & Geology Department in making our outdoor work a great success.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH