Ecological Impact and Assessment of Magnestite mining on soil of the Himalayan region

A mining scheme may thus set-in motion changes in geophysical, chemical, biological, socio-economic and cultural environments which causes great damage to geo-dynamically sensitive fragile ecosystem of Himalayas. The mining causes the environmental devastation and desertification. The vegetation of the Kumaun Himalayas is being adversely affected by mining activity in the magnesite and limestone quarrying areas. Most important thing is that the quality of soil is extremely affected in terms of water holding capacity, porosity, colour, texture, electrical conductivity, pH, organic matter, organic carbon, available nitrogen, available phosphorus and available potassium.