ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF MINING ACTIVITIES IN BUKURU AREA, JOS SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA
Abstract
This study investigated the effects of mining on the environment in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select 120 respondents. A well structured questionnaire was distribution to seven communities in Jos South Local Government Area; with each community taken as a stratum from which thirty (30) respondents were selected randomly. The result reveals that 85.0% of the respondents identified land size reduction as the major consequences of mining on the morphological landscape in the area. Significant relationship existed at P< 0.05 between mining and the environment (X2=51.950). Artisanal mining activities affect socio-economic activities of the people due to land degradation through soil erosion problems swampy nature of neglected mined excavation, mine dumps and ponds on arable lands, and also devastation of vegetation within the study area. Consequently, the natives experienced low productivity in cultivation, land fragmentation, land disputes. It is therefore, recommended that definite measures should be taken to bring mining affected land back to productive environment. Also, a soil conservation strategy should be planned for future mining. Environmental effects associated with mining operations are of particular concern to both the government agencies, planning authorities and the general public because of the destructions these have led to the surrounding. These destructions result in the loss of land, provision of spoil tips, pollution of ground and surface water and cause damage to the ecosystem. There is, therefore, the need to develop appropriate reclamation and indeed rehabilitation measures to check furtherance of the menace.
Keywords
Environmental Effects, Mining, Mining Activities, Bukuru Area