Author(s)

B. Anjan Kumar Prusty

Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology (GUIDE), PO Box. 83, Mundra Road, Opp. Changleshwar Temple, Bhuj, Gujarat, India.

Generation of baseline information about ambient air quality of any given region assumes significance, when the area is 1) an active mine site, 2) proposed to be mined out in future, and 3) industrialization in the area is in fast pace. Ambient air quality monitoring (with respect to SPM, RPM, SO₂, NO_x and CO) was carried out in and around two mining complexes in western parts of Kachchh district in Gujarat to generate baseline air quality status of the area. This area has two major mine complexes and various large scale industrial projects (thermal power plants, cement plants and several ports and jetties) are also in pipeline. Ambient air sampling was carried out in eight locations within five km radial distance from two major mine sites, i.e. Panandhro and Mata-na-Madh, with four locations for each mine site. Air Quality Indexing was done for all the locations, since it is a simplest way for the prediction of ambient air quality status of any region with respect to industrial, residential and rural areas. Of the eight locations studied the air quality for six locations fell under fairly clean (Light Air Pollution, AQI 25-50) category, while the rest (rural areas in the region), had relatively better air quality and fell under clean (Clean Air, AQI 10-25) category.

Air Quality Index; Ambient Air Quality; Mining; Western Kachchh

B. Prusty, "Ambient Air Quality Surveillance and Indexing in and around Mining Clusters in Western Kachchh Region, Gujarat, India," Open Journal of Air Pollution, Vol. 1 No. 2, 2012, pp. 22-30. doi: 10.4236/ojap.2012.12003.