Performance of Tree Species and Their Effects on Soil Properties in Chromite Mine Spoil Areas

Abstract

An experiment was carried out at Kakudia dump of Sukinda chromite mines, Tata Steel Limited, Kalarangiata, Jajpur, which is located near the trijunction of Cuttack, Dhenkanal and Keonjhar districts of Odisha, where 10 tree species from plantation were selected, their growth parameters were measured, volume and biomass was estimated and soil samples were analyzed for heavy metal contents which are collected from the root zone of tree species. Around 12 mines are operating in the area without proper environmental pollution controls, which cause major health hazards. According to estimates from an Indian health group, hexavalent chromium levels in drinking water are around 60% higher than the international norms, and chromite-related illnesses are thought to be the cause of 84.75 percent of fatalities in mining regions with no controls. There has been virtually no attempt to clean up the contamination. The experiment was based on three plantation blocks which consists of ten forest species such as Melia azedarach L., Samanea saman F. Muell., Syzygium cumini L., Acacia mangium Wild., Alstonia scholaris L., Pongamia pinnata L., Casuarina equisetifolia L., Azadirachta indica A. Juss., Anacardium occidentale L., Neolamarckia cadamba Roxb. and control with a mine barren spoil and natural forest. Casuarina equisetifolia recorded significantly highest height (10.43 m), DBH (13.99 cm), crown length (8.37 m), crown spread (4.2 m), volume (0.354 m3) and biomass (115.74 kg tree-1). Acacia mangium was the next best tree species followed by Anacardium occidentale, Neolamarckia cadamba, Syzygium cumini, Pongamia pinnata, Samanea saman, Melia azedarach, Azadirachta indica and Alstonia scholaris. Also, there is significant and positive correlation found among all the tree growth parameters. Among the growth parameters of trees, positive and significantly highest correlations was observed between tree DBH and tree biomass (r = 0.997761) followed by tree volume and tree biomass (r= 0.980047).