Environ Monit Assess (2016) 188: 402
DOI 10.1007/s10661-016-5393-1
Meteorology drives ambient air quality in a valley: a case
of Sukinda chromite mine, one among the ten
most polluted areas in the world
Soumya Ranjan Mishra & Rudra Pratap Pradhan &
B. Anjan Kumar Prusty & Sanjat Kumar Sahu
Received: 19 February 2016 / Accepted: 25 May 2016 / Published online: 11 June 2016
# Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016
Abstract The ambient air quality (AAQ) assessment
was undertaken in Sukinda Valley, the chromite hub of
India. The possible correlations of meteorological vari-
ables with different air quality parameters (PM10, PM2.5,
SO2, NO2 and CO) were examined. Being the fourth
most polluted area in the globe, Sukinda Valley has
always been under attention of researchers, for
hexavalent chromium contamination of water. The mon-
itoring was carried out from December 2013 through
May 2014 at six strategic locations in the residential and
commercial areas around the mining cluster of Sukinda
Valley considering the guidelines of Central Pollution
Control Board (CPCB). In addition, meteorological pa-
rameters viz., temperature, relative humidity, wind
speed, wind direction and rainfall, were also monitored.
The air quality data were subjected to a general linear
model (GLM) coupled with one-way analysis of vari-
ance (ANOVA) test for testing the significant difference
in the concentration of various parameters among sea-
sons and stations. Further, a two-tailed Pearson’s corre-
lation test helped in understanding the influence of
meteorological parameters on dispersion of pollutants
in the area. All the monitored air quality parameters
S. R. Mishra : B. A. K. Prusty (*)
Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology, PO Box No. 83, Opp.
Changleshwar Temple, Mundra Road, Bhuj, Gujarat 370001,
India
e-mail: anjaneia@gmail.com
R. P. Pradhan : S. K. Sahu
P.G. Department of Environmental Sciences, Sambalpur
University, Jyoti Vihar, Odisha 768019, India
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varied significantly among the monitoring stations sug-
gesting (i) the distance of sampling location to the mine
site and other allied activities, (ii) landscape features and
topography and (iii) meteorological parameters to be the
forcing functions. The area was highly polluted with
particulate matters, and in most of the cases, the PM
level exceeded the National Ambient Air Quality Stan-
dards (NAAQS). The meteorological parameters
seemed to play a major role in the dispersion of pollut-
ants around the mine clusters. The role of wind direc-
tion, wind speed and temperature was apparent in dis-
persion of the particulate matters from their source of
generation to the surrounding residential and commer-
cial areas of the mine.
Keywords Ambient air quality . Air pollution index .
Mining . Particulate matter . Sukinda Valley
Introduction
Rapid industrialization and urbanization have resulted in
degradation of environment and its components. Mining in
developing countries like India plays a vital role in the
overall economy and simultaneously contribute to envi-
ronmental degradation (Chandra et al. 2014). Air pollution
is one of the inevitable impacts of mining activities leading
to air quality degradation and subsequent health implica-
tions on humans and animals and also affects plants and
materials. Chromium is one of the most commonly occur-
ring elements in the earth’s crust and occupies the 21st
position in abundance. Chromite ore mining has become
402 Page 2 of 17
essential due to its important uses in stainless steel, chrome
plating, manufacturing of dyes and pigments, leather and
wood preservation, treatment of evaporative tower water,
drilling mud, textiles, ink toners, chemical catalyst, aircraft
and in refractory industries for aluminium-forming bricks.
Almost entire consumption (98.9 %) is used in ferro-
alloys/charge-chrome industry. The elements found in
group VI of the periodic table bear identical properties
but cannot replace chromium due to cost and marginal
advantages. Elemental chromium (Cr) does not occur in
nature but is present as ores mainly chromite (FeOCr2O3).
Chromite is the mixture of iron-chromium oxide mineral
and is the only ore of chromium metal (IBM 2013).
The overall world reserves of shipping-grade chro-
mite are more than 12 billion tonnes. The major
chromite-producing countries are South Africa, Zimba-
bwe, Kazakhstan, Brazil, Turkey, Finland, Russia and
India, among which South Africa contributes over 95 %
of the total world deposits (Pattnaik et al. 2012). India
contributes about 2 % of the total chromite deposits in
the world and has reserves of 203 million tonnes (MT).
Of this, about 190 MT (95 %) is mostly concentrated in
Sukinda Valley (IBM 2013) and the rest are concentrat-
ed in other states of India, viz., Jharkhand, Karnataka,
Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Manipur (Fig. 1, IBM
2013). The chromite ore belt at Sukinda is spread over
an area of approximately 200 km2 in Jajpur district of
Odisha, India and is a well-known chromite hub in the
world (Das and Mishra 2010). In India, most of the
mining operations are done by opencast method. The
chromium ore grade >38 % is marketed directly, where-
as the ones between 10 and 35 % are stacked as sub-
grade ore and kept for further beneficiation. The ore
grade <10 % is stacked as overburden dumps (IBM
2013). The consumption of chromite in India in the
organized sector has increased by 25.4 % (IBM 2012).
Though the chromite mining in Sukinda Valley greatly
contributes towards India’s economic development, at
the same time, it deteriorates natural environment
(Tiwary et al. 2005) and hence is listed as the fourth
most polluted area in the world (BSI 2007). Alarming
concentrations of hexavalent chromium in surface and
groundwater has affected nearly 2.6 million people in
Sukinda (Mishra and Sahu 2013).
Mining activities and environmental implications
Opencast mining in Sukinda Valley was started in
1950s. Of the total 17 mining leases, currently 12 are
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Environ Monit Assess (2016) 188: 402
operational (02 underground and 10 opencast) and 05
are non-operational due to lack of statutory clearances
(Pattnaik et al. 2012). The most common environmental
problems due to mining are (i) large-scale deforestation
(Saha et al. 2011); (ii) accumulation of huge overburden
dumps (Maiti 2007); (iii) extensive air, water, soil and
noise pollution (Lad and Samant 2013); (iv) impaired
plant growth with removal of top soil and formation of
man-made wastelands (Dhal et al. 2010); (v) formation
of poor soil conditions viz., low nutrient content, poor
water holding capacity, imbalanced pH, toxic heavy
metal accumulation along with soil erosion, which
transfers the heavy metal ions to the nearby water chan-
nels (Misra et al. 2004). Chromite mines generate con-
siderable quantity of pollutants containing toxic
hexavalent chromium, a known carcinogen, which con-
tributes to the 10–4000 ppm of total chromium in air,
water and soil environment (Vijayan and Nikos 2015).
Airborne emissions occur during each stage of the min-
ing cycle, especially during drilling, blasting, explora-
tion, development, construction, operation and transpor-
tation activities. The ancillary developments such as
development of different industries like sponge iron,
crushers and railway sidings around the mining area
also create gaseous and particulate pollutants (Panda
and Barik 2010).
Mining operations mobilize large amount of waste
materials containing minute particles, which are easily
dispersed by wind. Particulate matter (PM) includes
both organic and inorganic substances, which could be
solid, liquid or suspended in the atmosphere (Davidson
et al. 2005). Particles with aerodynamic diameter
<10 μm (PM10) are of concern for health (Chen et al.
2005) and environmental problems (Seinfeld and Pandis
2006). Aerosols with aerodynamic diameter <2.5 μm
(PM2.5) are responsible for health hazards, as it contains
acidity (hydrogen ion) and mutagenic activity (Prusty
et al. 2005), and those with <1.0 μm size (PM1) contrib-
utes to visibility reduction and radiative effects (Berico et
al. 1997). Furthermore, PM has wider impacts on climate,
causing direct (absorbing, reflecting and scattering), indi-
rect (cloud formation, cloud albedo and lifetime) and semi-
direct (heating and cooling) effects on the global radiative
budget (Solomon et al. 2007). The gaseous pollutants like
SO2, NO2 and CO are released to the atmosphere by
vehicular and other allied activities in the mining area
(Talebi 1997; Katiyar et al. 2003; Madhuri et al. 2003).
Sulphur and nitrogen compounds in both gaseous and
particulate phases are known to have environmental and
Environ Monit Assess (2016) 188: 402
Fig. 1 Chromite resource map of
India (source: IBM 2013)
health implications (Lee et al. 1999). An overview of air
pollution scenario in other opencast (non-ferrous) mines
around the globe is presented in Table 1.
Air pollution index
Air pollution index (API) is an environmental index,
which describes the overall ambient air quality (AAQ)
status and trend of a particular place based on prescribed
standards. The overall AAQ of a specified area can be
assessed in a better way and quantified in terms of API,
since it represents the cumulative effect of all the pol-
lutants, and provides a succinct view of the overall air
quality of an area, and aids in informed decision and
policy making for prevention of air pollution. It also
provides insights to design air pollution control equip-
ment, which, for instance, will reduce the level of certain
pollutants while increasing the level of others. The
higher the API value, greater is the level of air pollution
and hence greater is the health risk. The API scale is
divided into five categories (Table 2).
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Page 3 of 17 402
In view of the above specifics, we carried out a study
to assess the level of particulate and gaseous pollutants
arising from the mining and ancillary activities along
with the meteorological interaction in and around the
chromite belt of Sukinda Valley. The AAQ was moni-
tored from December 2013 through May 2014 to assess
the seasonal variation of air pollutants, inter-pollutant
correlations and meteorological interactions with the
pollutant concentrations.
Materials and methods
Study area
Sukinda Valley (Fig. 2) is present at the south-eastern
part of India in Jajpur district of Odisha and lies between
latitude 21° 00′ N to 21° 05′ N and longitude 85° 44′ E
to 85° 53′ E (Survey of India toposheet no. 73 G/16, 73
H/9 and 73 H/13). The Mahagiri hill ranges lie to the
south of Sukinda Valley with an altitude of 300 m above
402 Page 4 of 17 Environ Monit Assess (2016) 188: 402

Table 1 Air pollutants in the other (non-ferrous) mining clusters throughout the globe

Air quality parameters Comparison with the previous studies

Concentration range Type of industry Location of mine Reference

PM10 (μg/m3) 12–200 Coal mine Zonguldak, Turkey Tecer et al. (2008)
144.8–342.9 Coal mine Dhanbad, Chhattisgarh, India Sing and Pal (2010)
161.39–394.01 Coal mine Jharia coal field, Chhattisgarh, India Mishra et al. (2012)
40.8–171.9 Coal mine Ib valley, Odisha, India Chaulya (2005)
34–153 Lignite mine Western Kachchh, Gujarat, India Prusty (2012)
135.9–271.9 Coal mine Jharia coal field, Chhattisgarh, India Pandey et al. (2014)
44.2–171.9 Coal mine and metal mine Kosova, Mitrovica, Europe Syla et al. (2007)
32–288 Coal mine Talcher coal field, Odisha, India Roy et al. (2012)
338–369 Coal mine Jharia coal field, Chhattisgarh, India Roy et al. (2015)
PM2.5 (μg/m3) 4.55–96.65 Coal mine Zonguldak, Turkey Tecer et al. (2008)
6.6–52.7 Coal mine and metal mine Kosova, Mitrovica, Europe Syla et al. (2007)
SO2 (μg/m3) 1.47–6.14 Coal mine Tirap colliery, Assam, India Sarmah et al. (2012)
8–36.5 Lignite mine Western Kachchh, Gujarat, India Prusty (2012)
10–105 Coal mine Jharia coal field, Chhattisgarh, India Pandey et al. (2014)
3
NO2 (μg/m ) 1.92–2.40 Coal mine Tirap colliery, Assam, India Sarmah et al. (2012)
7.5–77.5 Lignite mine Western Kachchh, Gujarat, India Prusty (2012)
10–70 Coal mine Jharia coal field, Chhattisgarh, India Pandey et al. (2014)
CO (μg/m3) 65–295 Lignite mine Western Kachchh, Gujarat, India Prusty (2012)
4–10 Coal mine Angul-Talcher belt, Odisha, India Suman et al. (2007)

mean sea level (MSL), whereas to the north lie the
Daitari Hill ranges with an altitude of 400 m above
MSL. The valley meanders towards west and then south
along its slope and is drained by Damsala Nala, which
flows from north-east (NE) to south-west (SW) and
drains into the Brahmani River. The site is located at a
distance of about 140 km from the state capital,
Bhubaneswar.
Sukinda experiences humid climate, and temper-
ature varies from around 14 to 46 °C. The average
annual rainfall of the area is around 1500 mm,
predominantly due to south-west monsoon. The
relative humidity of the area varies from 65 to
93 %. The area mainly comprises of ultramafic
rocks consisting of alternate chromite, dunite, peri-
dotite and orthopyroxinite bands (Dhakate and
Singh 2008). These bands are repeated in a rhyth-
mic fashion and synformally folded plunging west
south-west (WSW) at an angle of 100○ to 150○.
Hexavalent chromium (Cr VI) in surface water and
groundwater is a major culprit, affecting around 2.6
million people in the area (Mishra and Sahu 2013).

Table 2 API range with air quality and health impacts

Sl. no Index range Quality of air Health concern

1 0–25 Clean air (CA) None/minimal health effect

2 26–50 Light air pollution (LAP) Possible respiratory or cardiac effect for most sensitive group
3 51–75 Moderate air pollution (MAP) Increasing symptoms of respiratory and cardiovascular illness
4 76–100 Heavy air pollution (HAP) Aggravation of heart and lung diseases
5 >100 Severe air pollution (SAP) Serious aggravation of heart and lung diseases Risk of death in children

Ziauddin and Siddiqui (2006)

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Environ Monit Assess (2016) 188: 402
Fig. 2 Location map of Sukinda
Valley along with different
mining leases
Mining activities below the groundwater table and
discharge of mining effluents to natural water bod-
ies without proper treatment lead to contamination
of ground and surface water.
Selection of the monitoring stations
AAQ monitoring was carried out at strategic locations in
Sukinda Valley following the guidelines of Central Pol-
lution Control Board (CPCB 2011). The stations were
selected to obtain representative picture of the air quality
in the region by considering different characteristic fea-
tures, viz., (i) sensitivity of the station, (ii) source of
pollutants, (iii) meteorological parameters such as pre-
dominant wind direction, (iv) human settlements, (v)
provisions of electricity and safety of the instruments,
(vi) height of instrument fixation and (vii) accessibility
of the station. The meteorological data were collected by
installing an Automatic Weather Monitoring Station
(AWMS) at mining office of South Kaliapani chromite
mine of M/s OMC Ltd. in Sukinda Valley. The meteo-
rological data for the preceding 1 year (December 2012
to November 2013) was processed using WRPLOT
View (Lakes Environmental) software to prepare wind
rose diagram, which provided insights on the predomi-
nant wind directions in the study area (Fig. 3).
From the wind rose diagram, it was learnt that the
predominant wind direction was from east (E) to west
(W) and vice versa followed by NE. Thus, we presumed
that western and eastern part of the study area are likely
to be highly impacted, and south-western part of the
study area are likely to be moderately impacted by air
pollutants. Considering these above facts from meteo-
rological data and the previously described factors, six
AAQ stations were selected (Table 3 and Fig. 4).
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Page 5 of 17 402
Sampling and analysis
The ambient air sampling was carried out from Decem-
ber 2013 through May 2014 at six strategic locations.
Considering the accuracy of the results into account, the
monitoring was carried out during dry seasons only, i.e.
in winter (December 2013 to February 2014) and sum-
mer (March 2014 to May 2014). Sampling was carried
out as per CPCB guidelines and methods. The instru-
ments were fixed at a height of 3 to 10 m above ground
level in order to get a representative sample avoiding
dust lifted from ground (CPCB 2011).
The sampling of particulate and gaseous pollutants was
carried out twice a week at uniform intervals throughout
the sampling period (CPCB 2011). For the sampling of
PM10 (respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM)),
respirable dust sampler (RDS, make: Ecotech, model:
AAS 217 BL) was used. The sampling was carried out
for 24 h at an air flow rate of 1.0 to 1.3 m3/min using glass
microfibre filter paper (make: Whatman, type: GF/A, size
20.3 × 25.4 cm). The sampling of PM2.5 was carried out by
fine particulate sampler (FPS, make: Ecotech, model no
AAS 127) using polytetrafloroethylene (PTFE, diameter
46.2 mm) filter paper supported by polypropylene ring.
The sampling was carried out for 24 h with a fixed air flow
rate of 1 m3/h. The sampling of SO2 and NO2 was carried
out by attaching a gaseous attachment (make: Ecotech,
model: AAS 109) with the suction outlet of RDS through
a suction pipe. Potassium tetrachloromercurate (KTCM)
was used for sampling of SO2, and a mixed solution of
sodium hydroxide and sodium arsenite was used for the
sampling of NO2 as an absorbing solution. The sampling
for both SO2 and NO2 were carried out for 04 h with an air
flow rate of 1.0 L/min, totalling to six samplings in 24 h
(CPCB 2011). CO was analysed by digital CO analyser
402 Page 6 of 17 Environ Monit Assess (2016) 188: 402

Fig. 3 Wind rose diagram of Sukinda Valley (December 2012 to November 2013)

(make: UNIPHOS, model no. 299). The sampling of CO humidity (RH), wind speed, wind direction and rainfall
was carried out for 1 h for each monitoring station. The during the study period were monitored using an Auto-
meteorological parameters, viz., temperature, relative matic Weather Monitoring Station (make: Virtual

Table 3 Ambient air quality monitoring stations

Sl. no. Station name Station code Geo-coordinates Direction of station wrt study area Type of area

1 Kalarangita A1 21° 00′ 31.40″ N 85° 44′ 10.58″ E South-west (SW) Commercial area
2 Chingudiapal A2 21° 02′ 31.38″ N 85° 45′ 35.84″ E West (W) Residential area
3 Sukurangi A3 21° 02′ 00.52″ N 85° 47′ 17.13″ E South (S) Residential area
4 Ostapal A4 21° 04′ 03.46″ N 85° 48′ 40.59″ E North (N) Residential area
5 Kansa A5 21° 01′ 13.27″ N 85° 52′ 03.56″ E East (E) Residential area
6 Kamarda A6 21° 03′ 24.24″ N 85° 51′ 0.96″ E East (E) Commercial area

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Environ Monit Assess (2016) 188: 402 Page 7 of 17 402

Fig. 4 Monitoring stations in the study area (Source: Google Earth 2014, imagery date 30 May 2010)

Hydromet). The methods followed for AAQ and meteo-
rology monitoring are presented in Table 4. All the re-
agents were prepared using metal-free analytical grade
(Extra Pure) chemicals (Merck Millipore) for quality as-
surance throughout the experiments and analyses. Double-
distilled water prepared using a quartz distillation assembly
was used for preparing the reagents. Room temperature
was ∼30 °C while the analyses were carried out. All the
polypropylene bottles and glassware were subjected to
cleaning procedures prescribed by Laxen and Harrison
(1981).
Air pollution index
API represents the status of the air environment in a
particular area at a given time. It is the measure of the
overall pollutant concentration wrt the prescribed na-
tional standards of pollutants and identifies the antici-
pated effect on health and environment. The API was
calculated by ‘average method’ following Ziauddin and
Siddiqui (2006), using the formula as below:
 
1 IPM10 IPM2:5 ISO2 INO2 ICO
API ¼  þ þ þ þ  100
5 SPM10 SPM2:5 SSO2 SNO2 SCO
where, IPM10, IPM2.5, ISO2, INO2 and ICO represent
the individual concentration of PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NO2
and CO, respectively. Similarly, SPM10, SPM2.5, SSO2,
SNO2 and SCO represent their respective values (24
hourly) in National Ambient Air Quality Standards
(NAAQS) as prescribed by CPCB.

Table 4 Methods adopted and instruments used for the sampling of the AAQ and meteorological parameters

Sl. no Parameter Methods of analysis Sampling instrument/apparatus Reference

1 PM10 Gravimetric method Respirable dust sampler (Ecotech, AAS 217 BL) CPCB (2011)
2 PM2.5 Gravimetric method Fine particulate sampler (Ecotech, AAS 127) CPCB (2011)
3 SO2 Improved West and Gaeke method Gaseous attachment (Ecotech, AAS 109) CPCB (2011)
4 NO2 Modified Jacob and Hochheiser method
5 CO Sealed electrochemical sensor CO analyser (UNIPHOS, 299) BIS (2006)
6 Meteorology Sensor detection and digital display Automatic Weather Monitoring Station (Virtual Hydromet) –

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402 Page 8 of 17 Environ Monit Assess (2016) 188: 402

Table 5 Pollutant range in Sukinda Valley in comparison with the other chromite and iron ore mines throughout the globe

Air quality Present observation Comparison with the previous studies

parameters
Range Average Concentration Type of industry Location of mine Reference
± SD range

PM10 (μg/m3) 52–187 107 ± 22.5 32–124 Chromite mine Sukinda, Odisha, India IEP (2015)
10–131 Chromite mine Rusterburg, South Africa Kgabi et al. (2011)
32–69 Chromite mine Sukinda, India IBM (2013)
13–215 Chromite mine Rustenberg, South Africa Kgabi (2006)
3–9 Chromite mine Rustenberg, South Africa Karonga and Kgabi
(2009)
195–259 Iron Mine Dubuna, Keonjhar, Sahoo and Behera
Odisha, India (2013)
PM2.5 (μg/m3) 25–88 51.9 ± 12.2 16–26 Chromite mine Rustenberg, South Africa Karonga and Kgabi
(2009)
SO2 (μg/m3) 7.2–18.1 12.5 ± 1.9 BDL Chromite mine Sukinda, Odisha, India IEP (2015)
8.5–45.5 Iron and manganese mine Joda-Barbil, Odisha, India Das et al. (2003)
3.3–4.9 Iron mine Dubuna, Keonjhar, Sahoo and Behera
Odisha, India (2013)
NO2 (μg/m3) 16.4–34.2 25.4 ± 3.61 6.8–59.7 Chromite mine Sukinda, Odisha, India IEP (2015)
10.5–55.9 Iron and manganese mine Joda Barbil Odisha, India Das et al. (2003)
21.6–28.7 Iron mine Dubuna, Keonjhar, Sahoo and Behera
Odisha, India (2013)

Statistical analysis pollutants (SO2, NO2 and CO) varied significantly

The data as obtained for various AAQ and meteorological
parameters throughout the monitoring period were subject-
ed to a suite of statistical tests for better interpretation and
inference. To find the range and distribution of different
parameters, basic descriptive statistics was performed. A
two-tailed Pearson’s correlation test was performed to
understand the association between different AAQ param-
eters and those with meteorological variables, which influ-
ence the dispersion of various air pollutants, using
MEGASTAT 8.8 (Orris 2000). We conducted univariate
test, general linear model ANOVA (GLM-ANOVA), to
assess the variations in the AAQ parameters among the
stations and months. All the statistical tests were performed
at α = 0.05 level. These statistical tests were performed
using SPSS 13.0 (Norusis 1990).
Results and discussion
The findings of the present study revealed that both the
particulate pollutants (PM10 and PM2.5) and gaseous
among the AAQ monitoring stations (GLM-ANOVA,
p < 0.05), whereas only NO2 varied significantly
within the months (GLM-ANOVA, p < 0.05).
Many of the previous studies reveal that Sukinda
Valley is impacted by Cr(VI) (Dhakate and Singh
2008; Pattnaik and Panda 2011; Pattnaik et al.
2012; Mishra and Sahu 2013). Further, the present
findings substantiate the fact and reveal that the
region is also polluted by various air pollutants
(both particulate and gaseous pollutants). The con-
centration of gaseous pollutants in the study area
were low and within the prescribed limits, whereas
the concentration of particulate pollutants were
above the prescribed limits of NAAQS (CPCB
2011). The levels of air pollutants were also com-
pared with those reported earlier from other chro-
mite and ferrous mines to understand the prevail-
ing situation in Sukinda Valley (Table 5). This is
due to the fact that chromite contains higher per-
centage of Fe (IBM 2013). The details of the
results obtained for each of the AAQ parameters
are described in the following sections.

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Environ Monit Assess (2016) 188: 402 Page 9 of 17 402

API AM ± SD
Particulate matter concentrations

46.6 ± 8.13

53.7 ± 10.3
44.1 ± 5.9
53.5 ± 8.6
56 ± 9.7
45.7 ± 8.7
The concentration of PM10 in the study area ranged from
52 μg/m3 (A4) to 187 μg/m3 (A6, Table 6). Though the
24 hourly concentration of PM10 exceeded in all the

493.2 ± 232.6
493.6 ± 232.6
287.2 ± 152.7
293.6 ± 163.4

391.5 ± 209.4
214.9 ± 117.9
AM ± SD monitoring stations, stations like A1, A3, A5 and A6
showed average six monthly concentrations above the
prescribed standards of NAAQ (100 μg/m3, CPCB
2011), i.e. 101.3, 114, 113.5 and 119.6 μg/m3, respec-
tively. Similarly, the concentration of PM2.5 ranged from
CO (μg/m3)

25 μg/m3 (station A4) to 88 μg/m3 (station A6). All the

100–800
100–900
100–600

100–500
100–600

100–800
Range

monitoring stations exceeded the prescribed standards

of NAAQ (60 μg/m3, CPCB 2011) except station A4,
where the reported maximum PM2.5 concentration was
26.7 ± 3.1
23.2 ± 2.1
27.3 ± 3.1
23.6 ± 3.9
24.4 ± 3.3
26.5 ± 3.6
AM ± SD

55 μg/m3. The concentration range of PM10 and PM2.5

in all the six monitoring stations along with their mean
and standard deviations are presented in Table 6. Similar
NO2 (μg/m3)

trends of PM concentration was found in several chro-

20.5–33.4
18.8–28.6
20.9–34.2
16.4–31.2
18.4–30.1
18.7–33.8

mite and iron mines (Kgabi 2006; Karonga and Kgabi

Range

2009; Kgabi et al. 2011; IBM 2013; Sahoo and Behera

2013; IEP 2015). Opencast mining contributed about
73 % of the total PM to the atmosphere (Sing and Pal
13.3 ± 1.7
11.9 ± 1.5
13.7 ± 1.6
11.3 ± 1.8
11.9 ± 1.8
12.9 ± 1.8
AM ± SD

2010).
GLM-ANOVA test revealed that the concentration of
PM10 and PM2.5 varied significantly within the sam-
SO2 (μg/m3)

pling stations (F 10.879, df 5, p < 0.05 for PM10 and F

9.2–17.3
9.5–18.1
7.2–16.5
8.5–14.5
8.3–15.5
8.6–15.5

12.645, df 5, p < 0.05 for PM2.5). This could be ascribed

Range

to the differences in the sampling stations especially

with respect to the landscape, proximity to the mine
Table 6 Concentrations of the monitored air pollutants in Sukinda Valley

site and the prevailing meteorological conditions of the

55 ± 10.6
56.9 ± 13.4
47.1 ± 11.6

58.8 ± 3.2
48.6 ± 9.5

area. Charron and Harrison (2005) during their study on

AM ± SD

44.8 ± 6

fine (PM2.5) and coarse (PM2.5–10) fraction of PM in

PM2.5 (μg/m3)

London highway area also supports this view. Further,

various mining and ancillary activities such as vehicular
movements in the area might have contributed to the
Range

32–88
33–82
25–55
38–73
34–73
28–73

reported higher levels of PM concentration. Similar

causative factors were also observed by Prusty (2012),
AM arithmetic mean, SD standard deviation

during an ambient air quality monitoring programme in

114 ± 23.6
96.5 ± 15.3

119.6 ± 23.8
97 ± 21.1
101.3 ± 19.4

113.5 ± 20
AM ± SD

lignite mines of Western Kachchh region, India. The

main source of PM in the opencast mines is the fugitive
dust and their lateral dispersion much beyond the mine
PM10 (μg/m3)

lease area. The primary source of fugitive dust in an

70–187
68–161

68–152
68–144
54–137

52–116

operational mining area includes the activities like over-

Range

burden removal, blasting, mineral haulage, mechanical

handling operations, stock piles and site restoration
(Appleton et al. 2006).
Station code

The concentration of PM may fluctuate in many of

the similar mining clusters, as it depends upon factors
A5
A6
A1
A2
A3
A4

like climatic conditions, meteorology, mining and

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402 Page 10 of 17
ancillary activities. Though dust in the Sukinda Valley
mainly comprises of chromite particles, sometimes it
also contains trace amounts of Cr(VI) which have ad-
verse impact on environment (Mishra and Sahu 2013).
PM10 was highly correlated with PM2.5. Being the frac-
tion of PM10, PM2.5 is also high and showed higher
correlation (Table 8). Similar correlations were found
in the mining areas of Northern European countries
(Tecer et al. 2008). API was found to be highly corre-
lated with PM10 and PM2.5, which is indicative of the
contribution of PM in API increment.
Gaseous pollutant concentrations
The concentration of SO2 varied from 7.2 μg/m3 (station
A3) to 18.1 μg/m3 (station A6, Table 6) and was well
within the NAAQS (80 μg/m3, CPCB 2011). Concen-
tration of SO2 was well within the prescribed standards
of NAAQ (80 μg/m3, CPCB 2011). The concentration
of SO2 varied significantly among the stations (GLM-
ANOVA, F 14.542, df 5, p < 0.05) and months (GLM-
ANOVA, F 2.279, df 5, p < 0.05). Significant variation
of SO2 among the stations is indicative of the occurrence
of discrete mining and allied activities and the proximity
of the sampling stations to the mine site. Further, several
factors such as temperature inversions, changing wind
patterns, landscape features and topography of the area
in a valley might be a factor in restricting the dispersion
of the gases. Prusty (2012) also ascribes the temperature
inversion and mixing height in the lower atmosphere in
reducing the dispersion of pollutants, thereby increasing
the concentration of gases in and around the mining
sites. Wind speed, air masses and height of mixing layer
can also govern SO2 concentration (Pio and Feliciano
1996). Processes such as advective inversion might play
a significant role in reduced dispersion of gaseous pol-
lutants in Sukinda Valley, which is predominantly land-
locked by hillocks.
The observed spatial (F 13.964, df 5, p < 0.05) and
temporal (F 5.673, df 5, p < 0.05) variation in the NO2
concentration in the area was significant (GLM-
ANOVA). The observed range for NO2 was between
16.4 μg/m3 (station A1) and 33.8 μg/m3 (station A3,
Table 6). The concentration of NO2 in all the monitoring
stations throughout the sampling period was well below
the prescribed values of NAAQS (80 μg/m3, CPCB
2011). The observed variation in NO2 might be due to
the variation in mining and transportation activities in
each monitoring station in the valley. The activities such
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Environ Monit Assess (2016) 188: 402
as drilling, blasting and combustion processes add NO2
to the atmosphere (Pandey et al. 2014). Along with the
mining activities, large number of vehicles around the
mine site and nearby villages might have contributed to
the higher levels of NO2 as was observed in other
opencast mining areas in the country (Prusty 2012). A
number of Heavy Earth Moving Machineries (HEMMs)
and other heavy vehicles emit considerable amount of
NO2 leading to elevated concentration. Since monsoon
plays an important role in the seasonal variation in NO2
concentrations over India (Ghude et al. 2008), we ex-
amined the seasonal pattern of NO2 in relation with
temperature and RH. NO2 was positively correlated
(r = 0.220) with temperature and negatively correlated
(r = −0.201) with RH (Table 8).
CO concentration varied significantly among the
sampling stations (GLM-ANOVA, F 15.30, df 5,
p < 0.05) and was well below the limits of NAAQS
(4000 μg/m3, 1 hourly, CPCB 2011). The concentration
of CO varied from 100 μg/m3 (all stations) to 900 μg/m3
(station A6, Table 6). The average value of CO varied
from 214.9 μg/m3 (station A4) to 493.6 μg/m3 (station
A6). The unequal distribution of the sources of CO
emission, such as mining and vehicular activities, might
have contributed to the observed variability of CO level
in the area, and thus, PM10 and PM2.5 were significantly
correlated (positively) with CO (Table 8). This may be
due to the increment of vehicular activities in the mining
areas, which might have simultaneously exceeded the
concentration of PM along with CO. Vehicular emission
contributes considerably to the CO concentrations
(Katiyar et al. 2003; Madhuri et al. 2003). As the major
transportation in the area is through HEMM and other
heavy transporting vehicles, a significant generation of
CO was expected. Sarmah et al. (2012) also of the view
that the mining activity alone does not cause the emis-
sion of toxic gases but other collateral activities such as
burning of fuel and waste materials from mining have
also greater influence on SO2, NO2 and CO concentra-
tions (Fig. 4).
Air pollution index
The API being an indicative parameter of overall air
quality of the area revealed that the area is under light to
moderate air pollution with an API score of 25–75. The
six monthly average API values varied from 44.1 (sta-
tion A4) to 56 (station A6, Table 6), with the order of the
stations as A6 > A3 > A5 > A1 > A2 > A4. Station A6
Environ Monit Assess (2016) 188: 402 Page 11 of 17 402

a December 2013 b January 2014

c February 2014 d March 2014

e April 2014 f Ma y 2014

Fig. 5 a–f Monthly wind rose diagram (December 2013 to May 2014)

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402 Page 12 of 17 Environ Monit Assess (2016) 188: 402

Table 7 Meteorological parameters of the study area

Sl. no. Parameters December January February March April May

2013 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014

1 Temperature (°C) Range 12.11–31.3 12.79–30.73 12.26–30.75 16.86–41.87 20.78–44.59 24.63–44.87

Average ± SD 20.49 ± 5.6 21.31 ± 4.9 23.76 ± 5.6 27.93 ± 5.7 32.23 ± 5.8 32.60 ± 5.2
2 Relative humidity Range 26.35–96.68 31.09–96.26 17.63–97.65 16.2–97.2 10.25–97.17 12.83–98.17
(%) Average ± SD 72.11 ± 21.1 72.20 ± 18.6 64.13 ± 21.5 64.84 ± 21.6 54.61 ± 22.5 62.27 ± 22.2
3 Wind speed (m/s) Range 0–6.1 0–4.9 0–7.5 0–12.3 0–14.6 0–17.6
Average ± SD 1.1 ± 1 1.2 ± 1.1 1.8 ± 1.5 2±2 2.5 ± 2 2.5 ± 2
5 Rainfall (mm) Monthly total 0 0 11.6 23.4 1.4 62.6
No. of rainy days 0 0 1 9 4 10

was the highest polluted site of Sukinda Valley consid-
ering API. Three of the monitoring stations (A3, A5 and
A6) were within the range of moderate air pollution,
whereas the other three (A1, A2 and A4) of the moni-
toring stations were in the range of light air pollution
(Fig. 8). The daily air pollution index of the study area
showed that the area was within moderate to high air
pollution (API 50–100). Stations A3 and A6 were with-
in the range of heavy air pollution (API 75–100) con-
sidering the daily air pollution index (Fig. 8). The gen-
eral API level below 50 means that all pollutant levels
are in the satisfactory range over a 24-h monitoring
period and from 50 to 100 indicates the pollutants are
at high level (Wang and Wei-Zhen 2006). As previously
discussed, API is highly correlated with PM10 and
PM2.5. Similar results were also found by Pandey et al.
(2014). The higher concentrations of pollutants in sta-
tions A3, A5 and A6 could be ascribed to their proxim-
ity to the mine site. The predominant wind direction
during the monitoring period from W and NE (Fig. 5a–f)
could have also led to the increment of the pollutant
concentrations at stations A3, A5 and A6, which are
located in the E and SW direction with respect to the
mine area.
Meteorological condition of the study area
An analysis of the meteorological information
(Table 7) reveals that both cold winter and hot
summer were experienced in the study area. The
pollution load depends upon the emission levels
from different sources, the locations and height
of emission sources and micrometeorological fac-
tors (Prusty et al. 2005). The temperature varied
from 12.11 to 44.87 °C and increased significantly
from December 2013 through May 2014. Higher
temperature of the area can play a significant role
in the dispersion of particulate as well as gaseous

Table 8 Correlation matrix of air quality parameters and meteorological variables

PM10 PM2.5 SO2 NO2 CO API WS TEMP RH

PM10 1.000
PM2.5 0.946** 1.000
SO2 0.388** 0.403** 1.000
**
NO2 0.469 0.459** 0.463** 1.000
** **
CO 0.523 0.538 0.383** 0.411** 1.000
** ** **
API 0.975 0.974 0.481 0.567** 0.631** 1.000
WS 0.107 0.096 0.113 0.220 **
−0.090 0.106 1.000
TEMP 0.020 0.031 0.111 0.160** −0.183** 0.023 0.662** 1.000
RH −0.189 **
−0.162 **
−0.099 −0.201 **
0.022 −0.175**
−0.510** −0.643** 1.000

282 sample size

** ± 0.153 critical value 0.01 (two-tail), * ± 0.117 critical value 0.05 (two-tail)

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Environ Monit Assess (2016) 188: 402
pollutants. Temperature and PM have a significant
effect on the occurrence of episodic events (Tecer
et al. 2008). Being a valley, during the daytime,
and in the active hours of the mining, the air near
the mountain slope warms up faster than the air at
the same altitude but away from the mountain.
This can cause a local pressure gradient, and air
is forced to flow up the mountain slope as moun-
tain breeze, which can be a major factor for the
dispersion of the particulate pollutants (Rao 1991).
The RH varied from 10.25 to 98.17 %, and the
average RH was higher in winter days than summer.
The RH was negatively correlated with all the examined
a A1
c A3
e A5
Fig. 6 a–f Correlation between wind direction and PM10
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Page 13 of 17 402
pollutants except CO (Table 8). The lower RH along
with high wind speed may lead to the dispersion of
pollutants in and around the mining area. The increment
of RH plays a significant role in increase in the episodic
value of PM10 and PM2.5. Further, the cloud scavenging
characteristics of RH levels (>83 %) might result in low
concentration of gases and aerosols (Elminir 2005). In
addition, mining and allied activities during the peak
hours could also be responsible for the increase in
episodic values of PM.
The total rainfall (62.6 mm) and the number of rainy
days (10) were highest in May 2014. There was no rain
during the winter months, i.e. during December 2013 and
b A2
d A4
f A6
402 Page 14 of 17 Environ Monit Assess (2016) 188: 402

Fig. 7 Temporal variation of

PM10 concentrations
120

PM10 Concentrations ()µg/m3)

100

Dec-13
80
Jan-14
Feb-14
60
Mar-14
Apr-14
40
May-14

20

0
A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6
AAQ Sampling Stations

January 2014. Though no monitoring was done during the
rainy days, it can have an impact on the suppression and
washout of air pollutants (Tecer et al. 2008). Under the
condition of low rainfall, PM concentration in ambient air
tends to increase (Larssen et al. 2007).
The highest wind speed in the study area was
17.6 m/s. The average wind speed increased from
December 2013 through May 2014. The decrease
in RH and increase in the wind speed could be a
major cause for the dispersion of pollutants. The
results of PM10 revealed that wind speed higher
than 2.80 m/s decreased the episodic days up to
40 % (Tecer et al. 2008). Prakash and Bassin
(2010) observed that strong and medium winds
during April to June create turbulent conditions
and local disturbances in the environment causing
frequent dust storm and hazy conditions which
build up high PM levels in the ambient air. The
influence of meteorological parameters on PM is
discussed in the subsequent sections. Wind speed
was significantly correlated with temperature
(r = 0.662) and RH (r = −0.510, two-tailed
Pearson’s correlation test, Table8). This might be
due to the temperature inversion phenomena (Rao
1991), as previously described.
Correlation between wind direction and PM10
concentrations
Wind direction was one of the major factors for the
dispersion of air pollutants from their source of gener-
ation. Sukinda Valley is surrounded in the north and

Fig. 8 Daily air pollution index

(monthly average) in the study
area (X-axis represents the
stations A1–A6)

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Environ Monit Assess (2016) 188: 402
south, by hill stations (Daitari and Mahagiri hills).
Thus, the predominant wind direction was from E
and from W. In the present study, wind direction was
from W during the months of December 2013 through
March 2014 (Fig. 5a–f). During the months of April
and May 2014, the wind direction was reversed and
was from E and NE direction. Stations A3, A5 and A6
were highly impacted which could be ascribed to
these reasons. SPM is known to be strongly associat-
ed with the predominant wind direction of a particular
area (Poykio et al. 2002; Tecer et al. 2008), which was
closely observed during the present study. Most of the
monitoring stations were significantly impacted by
wind direction. PM10 concentration was highest when
the wind direction was either from east or west direc-
tion, due to the geographical position of the valley.
Thus, the stations present in the W (station A1 and
station A2) and in the E (station A5 and station A6)
were highly impacted (Fig. 6a–f). Though the stations
A1 and A2 were impacted throughout the sampling
period, they seemed to be highly impacted when the
wind direction was from eastern quadrant (45° to
135°) of the study area, i.e. during the months of April
and May 2014 (Fig. 6a–f).
Similarly, during the months of February 2014–
May 2014, though the predominant wind direction
was from W and E, wind direction was also ob-
served from NE quadrant. This may be a major
cause for the higher dust concentration at station
A3, which is located in the SW direction of the
study area (Fig. 4). Similarly, stations A5 and A6
are in the E of the study area and had higher
concentrations of PM during the months of Decem-
ber 2013 to March 2014 (Fig. 7), wherein the wind
direction was from the west (Fig. 5a–f). Station A4
did not show any relation between wind direction
and PM10 throughout the sampling period, which
may be due to its location, in the north (N) direction
of the study area. Further the wind direction was
least observed from the southern quadrant throughout
the monitoring period. Poykio et al. (2002) observed
the impact of wind direction on PM around chromite
mines from heap of mining spoil, enrichment plants,
railway line, etc. The presence of discrete mining
overburden dumps, transportation roads, crushing
and enrichment plants were the major source of
PM in mining areas. These particulates were
transported by wind and seemed to affect the nearby
residential areas as per the wind patterns (Fig. 8).
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
Page 15 of 17 402
Conclusion
The present study at Sukinda Valley revealed that the
operation of the opencast chromite mine has significant
impact on the residential and commercial areas in the
buffer zone. The area is highly polluted with coarse
(PM10) and fine (PM2.5) fraction of particulate matters.
The ongoing mining activities without proper environ-
mental management strategies seemed to have caused
the degradation of the surrounding environment.
(i) Particulate matter concentrations were above the pre-
scribed limits of NAAQS indicating the said area to
be polluted. However, the concentrations of the gas-
eous pollutants, viz., SO2, NO2 and CO were well
within the prescribed standards of NAAQ. Sukurangi
(residential), Kansa (residential) and Kamarda
(commercial) stations were highly impacted with PM.
(ii) The API is suggestive of the area to be in light to
moderately polluted category considering the half
yearly average value. Daily API indicated the area
in the zone of moderate to high air pollution and
Sukurangi (residential), Kansa (residential) and
Kamarda (commercial) stations fall under highly
polluted zone.
(iii) API was highly correlated with the particulate
matter indicating its higher contribution in the
score.
(iv) The role of meteorological variables, viz., temper-
ature, relative humidity, wind speed and wind di-
rection in dispersing the particulate matter was
evident. Wind speed and temperature in association
with wind direction seemed to be responsible for
dispersion of particulate matters from their source
of generation to the receptor points, i.e. the sur-
rounding residential and commercial areas.
(v) Proper mitigation measures and pollution control
strategies should be followed by the mining lessees
of Sukinda Valley to control the particulate matters.
Appropriate water sprinkling in the haul and trans-
portation roads under supervision and by specially
designed tankers (rear water sprays) should be prac-
tised. Auto sprinklers on both sides of the road can be
used for more effective sprinkling. Wet drilling sys-
tems should be developed instead of dry drilling
process, which suppresses the dust particles generat-
ed during drilling. The use of wet spray system (dry
fog) should be incorporated in the major dust emit-
ting activities such as crushing and screening.
402 Page 16 of 17
Acknowledgments We are thankful to Mr. Dayananda Pandey,
Managing Director, M/s Ecological Development Consultancy
Pvt. Ltd., Bhubaneswar, Odisha, for providing the sampling and
analysis facilities to Mr. S. R. Mishra to carry out the work. We are
also thankful to Dr. Rachna Chandra, Senior Scientist in Terrestrial
Ecology Division of Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology for her
guidance and suggestions during the data analysis and preparation
of manuscript.
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