Environmental Pollution by Gold Mining-A Case Study of Robertsonpet (K.G.F.) Urban Agglomeration, Karnataka

Man by his own activities, has jeopardized the ecological systems, upon which the very existence of humans depends, and has caused such a large scale environmental degradation which has posed a threat to his own survival. Among various anthropogenic activities, mining is an important activity which has lead to severe environmental degradation. The wastes generated by mining activities have to be disposed off in such a way that minimum impact is seen on the ecosystems. The study area namely Kolar Gold Fields (K.G.F.) presently called Robertsonpet Urban Agglomeration, has huge gold mining waste dumps resulted due to disposal of the mining mill tailing material. It is big problem and causes contamination of land, air and water. Present study highlights the impact of these huge mining mill tailing dumps, locally called cyanide dumps, on the township and its inhabitants. Study has also suggested some remedial measures to be taken to minimize environmental pollution in the study area.