title: A study of abandoned ash ponds reclaimed through green cover development.
abstract: Green capping is one of the popular methods to re-vegetate abandoned ash ponds of coal based thermal power plants thereby lowering the risk of contamination to the surrounding environment. It has innumerable advantages such as prevention of dust emission, checking soil erosion, stabilizing the surface areas of ash, preventing potential ground water contamination, and finally, adding native vegetation cover, which is very vital in the long term. During the early nineties and later, various reclamation projects were carried out on fly ash dumps, but until date, there have not been any initiatives to assess the alterations in physicochemical and biological properties of fly ash resulting from implementation of these reclamation projects. In the present study, three abandoned ash ponds, located in India, that were reclaimed during 1998-2003 are investigated. Marked alterations in nutritional status, microbial population, and microbial activities have been observed in reclaimed ash ponds.
authors.affiliation: The Energy and Resources Institute, India Habitat Centre, Darbari Seth Block, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Manab
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Das
authors.forename: Palak
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.forename: Reena
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Alok
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Adholeya
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D018533:Biomass; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D003031:Coal; D060729:Coal Ash / Q000737:chemistry*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods; D004777:Environment; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007194:India; D008670:Metals / Q000032:analysis*; D059013:Microbial Consortia / Q000502:physiology*; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000378:metabolism*; D010636:Phenols / Q000032:analysis*; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism*; D061005:Ponds; D011210:Power Plants; D012989:Soil Pollutants
chemical_list: D003031:Coal; D060729:Coal Ash; D008670:Metals; D010636:Phenols; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D010088:Oxidoreductases