Research Article Open Access OMICS International Research Article Journal of Marine Science: Research & Development J o u r n a l o f M a r i n e S c i e n c e : R e s e a r c h & D e v e l o p m e n t ISSN: 2155-9910 Talukdar et al., J Marine Sci Res Dev 2016, 6:6 DOI: 10.4172/2155-9910.1000214 Volume 6 • Issue 6 • 1000214 J Marine Sci Res Dev, an open access journal ISSN: 2155-9910 Impact of Open Cast Coal Mining on Fish and Fisheries of Simsang River, Meghalaya, India Bandita Talukdar 1 , Jugabrat Das 2 , Himangshu Kr Kalita 1 , Sudem Basumatary 1 , Hrishikesh Choudhury 1 and Dandadhar Sarma 1 * 1 Department of Zoology, Gauhati University, Assam, India 2 Department of Zoology, Goalpara College, Assam, India Abstract Present paper deals with the impact of coal mining activities on the water quality and fsh diversity of Simsang River from 2009 to 2015. Six sampling sites were selected on the basis of affected and unaffected areas of coal mining activities. Certain water quality attributes such as water colour, temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, free CO 2 , chloride, total alkalinity, total dissolved solids, nitrate, ammonia, phosphate and sulphate were analysed along with the assessment of relative abundance of fshes. The estimated value of studied water quality parameters such as pH, dissolved oxygen and total alkalinity indicates degradation of water quality due to the effect of acid mine drainage (AMD) of coal mining. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) showed highest concentration of 4-ring PAH and Benzo[a]anthracene was the most important pollutant in the water collected from affected sites. Relative abundance of fsh diversity was also estimated less in affected area of the River. A total of 64 fsh species under 20 families were collected with highest number in cyprinidae family. The calculated value of diversity indices refected the declining trend of fsh diversity in the coal mining affected areas of the river due to degradation of water quality. *Corresponding author: Dandadhar Sarma, Associate Professor, Department of Zoology, Gauhati University, Guwahati-781014, Assam, India, Tel: +91 94353 14768; E-mail: sarma_dandadhar@yahoo.com Received October 21, 2016; Accepted November 26, 2016; Published December 06, 2016 Citation: Talukdar B, Das J, Kalita HK, Basumatary S, Choudhury H, et al. (2016) Impact of Open Cast Coal Mining on Fish and Fisheries of Simsang River, Meghalaya, India. J Marine Sci Res Dev 6: 214. doi: 10.4172/2155-9910.1000214 Copyright: © 2016 Talukdar B. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Keywords: Coal mining; Water quality; Fish diversity; Simsang river Introduction Coal mining activities in Garo Hills is posing severe threats to the aquatic biota of the Simsang River which is the longest river of Garo Hills, Meghalaya, India. In Garo Hills, two main reason is responsible for hazards to the biota of the river; frstly coal mine activities drains acid mine drainage (AMD) directly into the river and secondly dumping of coal for auction on its bank. As a result of excessive accumulation of AMD due to open cast coal mines practiced in the region, seasonally some area of the river devoid of any aquatic organism [1]. Common impact of coal mine activities include, low dissolved oxygen, higher sulphate content and turbidity which afect the aquatic life and reduce fsh diversity to a great extent [2]. Te primary cause of water quality degradation and the trend of biodiversity depletion in the water bodies of the coal mining areas is attributed mainly to the AMD, which makes water extremely acidic and loaded in heavy metal [3]. Tough, there are many works were done on the diferent aspects of water and its alarming impact on river ecosystem, but there is a lack of information on impact of coal mines on a river ecosystem. Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that, in spite of the fact that Simsang River of Garo Hills is one of the important tourist marks, yet this river is under severe pollution threat. It is a matter of great concern that no systematic study on the coal mine pollution load of the river or its impact on aquatic species has been carried out so far. Terefore, the present study has been carried out to investigate the impact of coal mining on ecology and fshery potential of Simsang River, Meghalaya, India. Materials and Methods Study area Te present study was carried out from 2009 to 2015 in the Simsang River of Garo Hills District in Meghalaya (Figure 1), India covering an area of about 290 km 2 of the entire stretch. Six study sites were selected on the basis of afected and unafected areas of the River which are as follows; near Nokrek Biosphere Reserve (S 1 , longitude 90º23 / 59 // E and latitude 25º31 / 21 // N, free from coal mining activities), near Romagre, (S 2 , longitude 90º34 / 21 // E and latitude 25º32 / 41 // N, free from coal mining activities), Williamnagar (S 3 , longitude 90º39 / 43 // E and latitude 25º27 / 36 // N, coal dumping was found regularly at the bank of the river), Nangalbibra (S 4 , longitude 90º44 / 39 // E and latitude 25º28 / 22 // N, maximum coal mining activities are practiced in the hills of vicinity), Near Siju (S 5 , longitude 90º45 / 22 // E and latitude 25º23 / 46 // N, coal mining activities are practiced) and Baghmara (S 6 , longitude 90º37 / 9 // E and latitude 25º12 / 1 // N, transportation of coal through boats were found regularly). Sample analysis Water samples were collected seasonally [4]. Water Samples were collected randomly with fve replicates from all the sites in the frst quarter of every season. Fishes were collected from landing centre (twice a month) as well as by directly visiting the area where maximum fshing practices were being carried out. Experimental fshing was also carried out with the help of local fshermen employing cast net and gill net. Te collected fshes were then preserved in 10% formaldehyde and fshes were identifed using standard feld guides [5,6]. Temperature (ºC), pH, dissolved oxygen (mg L -1 ), free CO 2 (mg L -1 ) , chloride (mg L -1 ), total alkalinity (mg L -1 ), TDS (ppm) and nitrate (mg L -1 ), phosphate (mg L -1 ), sulphate (mg L -1 ) and ammonia (mg L -1 ) were estimated following standard method of [7]; APHA [8]. For PAH analysis water samples (2.5 L) processing of water sample was done using liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) as described in APHA [8] and analyzed