IMPACT OF COAL MINING ON AIRBORNE PARTICLES BASED ON REAL-TIME DATAMD AURANGZEB AND SUDIP BANERJEEAbstract The present investigation focuses on the impact of the activities involved in coal mining operation like excavation, loading, unloading and transportation on particulate matter-2.5 and particulate matter-10 in Talcher coal field area, Odisha. The concentration of particulate matters in air has a strong detrimental effect on human health particularly on respiratory tract if present beyond the standard permissible limit. The online air quality index data are collected in this regard from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) of India from December 2018 to 2020. For the analysis, weighted average of sub-indices for 24 hours average of hourly readings of each month is considered. Hence, one year is divided into four seasons, namely winter (December to February), summer (March to May), monsoon (June to September) and post monsoon (October and November). The present investigation reveals that due to PM10, the air pollution level in the surrounding area of Talcher coalfield is found good only in September (AQI: 41) and October (AQI: 47) for the year 2019 and May (AQI: 48), June (AQI: 36) and July (AQI: 33) in 2020. Otherwise, the quality of the air in Talcher coalfield and its neighboring area remained adverse for its inhabitants throughout the stated period of investigation due to the presence of PM2.5 and PM10 beyond standard limit. Meteorological study reveals the fact that within the study period most of the days of a year the air quality remains unfavorable to sustain human activities and significantly the AQI in winter (December to February) possesses the most hazardous potential to the people living in the surrounding area. |