RESPONSES OF MICROBIAL POPULATIONS USING METAGENOMICS OF SELECTIVE COAL MINE GENERATED WASTELANDS IN RANIGANJ COAL FIELDPAYEL MAJUMDER GHOSH AND DEBNATH PALITAbstract Environmental havoc we experience today is largely the outcome of deforestation, reckless mining, rapid urbanization, industrialization and overexploitation of natural and irrational use of agrochemicals. Coal exploitation can lead to destruction of terrestrial and aquatic environments thus soil, air and water become polluted and biodiversity loss occurs. Mining activities especially open cast type for coal generates a large amount of waste, deposited at the soil surface. Because of a harsh condition, these wastelands require reclamation. Different physical, chemical, and biological remediation technologies have been developed during previous decades however microbe-based technologies are more suitable in a large mining site and efficient for improving the quality of disturbed landscapes. Considering the importance of all these perspectives studies, this work was designed to assess the microbial responses by using metagenomic study in overburden dump soil of Bankola and Nagrakunda areas of Raniganj Coalfield in West Bengal. |