Natural resource exploitation. mineral based industries and associated urbanisation have changed the environmental complexion by destruction to landform and obstruction to drainage system. Creation of solid waste landfill heights: pollution of air. surface runoff and ground water, land subsidence and the growing production of derelict land are some of the attendant environmental hazards to the society. Environment control programme needs a scheme of waste utilisation, treatment and safe disposal. Geologic disposal of industrial waste and domestic refuse and utilisation of subsurface space for sto- rage in the hard rock terrain and the abandoned mines have been outlined. Delineation of old unknown workings and safe measures for stability of underground cavities in hard and soft rocks have further been discussed.
Central India abounds a complex environmental set up due to multifaceted Developments of industrial and energy reseurces. Growing population around the industrial areas is faced with variety of environmental problems, the consequence of which are either not fully understood by the society or considered a long term risk. Some of the areas are along Godavari, Hasdo and Narmada valleys.
Characterised by denudational landscape, the region constitutes the relict and exhumed landforms, irregular topograpy and tableland features. The prevailing climate is humid tropical with an average annual rainfall around 300–400 mm, The principal drainages like Narmada, Tapi. Godavari and Mahanadi are flowing in E-Wdirection below Lat. 23°, while above this coordinate the drainages like son, Chambaland Ken are northerly flowing except Hasdo river which flows towards south in the Mahanadi basin. These rivers carry heavy discharge and serve as sources for base water supply to the nearby cities and for agriculture.. Extensive erosion has exposed a number of planation surfaces around 400 m. 600 m and 900 m. These surfaces are occupied by horizontal to low dipping Deccan flood basalts. proterozoic sedimentary rocks and the Gondwana coal measures and are characterised by tableland feature and a low undulating topography respectively. The Archaean granite massif terrain, except for limited exposures of inselberge, pediment slopes. sheet rock surfaces and parallel ridgeS1 predominantly has an uneven surface below elevation 400 m with deep soil and weathered rock cover. The significant climatic, formational and geohydrological characters in the prevailing landscape, Table 1, can be conceived as an ecological environment of its own. The areal distribution of different major rock groups, Fig. 1, Deccan basalt (60%), proterozoic sedimentary rocks (25%). Gondwanacoal measures (5%), Archaean massif and alluvium (10%)shows that Central India occupying an area of approximately one million sq km is predominantly a hard rock region. The geological environment of the Archaeans, Proterozoic and Gondwana rocks abound enormous natural resources including several thousand million tons of mineral deposits like limestone/dolomite, iron ore, refractory materials, coal and many base metals. Groundwater is mainly found in the primary porosity of the Gondwana sandstone and in the fracture porosity of the jointed basalts, granites and the hard sedimentary rock due to secondary permeability. The sandstone of the Gondwana coal measured has confined and unconfined aquifer with coefficient of percolation around 0.023 m/hr.
