Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Coal Mining Impacts on Land Cover Using Remote Sensing: A Case Study of Northern Coalfields, India

Coal mining activities in India's Singrauli-Sonbhadra region have intensified environmental concerns, necessitating comprehensive ecological impact monitoring. This study quantifies land use and land cover (LULC) changes in the Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) operational area over a decade (2016-2025) using Landsat 8-9 satellite imagery and NDVI-based classification. The 323 km² study area was analyzed through statistical trend analysis using Mann-Kendall tests and Sen's slope estimators. Results reveal substantial ecological transformation with barren land and mining areas expanding from 35.47% to 49.06%, representing a 13.59% net increase. Dense vegetation was nearly eliminated (>99.9% reduction), while moderate vegetation declined by 82.7%. Statistical analysis identified major expansion phases during 2017-2018 (+16.94%) and 2022-2023 (+24.01%), following cyclical patterns. The Mann-Kendall test revealed no statistically significant trends across all vegetation categories (p > 0.05), though directional patterns suggest barren/mining areas are increasing (+1.0996% annually, Sen's slope) and sparse vegetation is decreasing (-1.0184% annually). Vegetation recovery remained limited, with <3% achieving moderate-to-dense categories, indicating limited restoration success. High temporal instability in recovery (CV >95%) demonstrates challenges in current restoration practices. These findings provide quantitative evidence for enhanced monitoring protocols and landscape-scale rehabilitation strategies, contributing to India's restoration commitments under the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.