08Jun 2017

MINING TOP-SOIL FOR BRICK MAKING AND COST FEEDBACK TO ECONOMY AND ENVIRONMENT AN ASSESSMENT ON THE BRICK MANUFACTURING OF KHEJURI CD BLOCKS OVER COASTAL MEDINIPUR IN WEST BENGAL, INDIA.

  • Assistant Professor of Geography, Bajkul Milani Mahavidyalaya.
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Increased urbanisation and industrialisation in developing countries has created a huge demand for construction activities, which in turn has resulted in the fast growth of the brick-making industry. Unfortunately, brick-kilns are mostly situated on fertile agricultural land, as brick manufacturers need silty clay loam to silty clay soils with good drainage conditions. This article quantifies the agricultural impacts of top-soil removal for brick-making using replacement cost approaches, for Khejuri CD Blocks of Purba Medinipur District over Coastal Bengal in India. To compute the cost, a survey of 50 farmers each was carried out in two regions?in the north, interior Khejuri (I) and in the south, Coastal Khejuri (II). Besides, 60 soil samples?30 from each region?were analysed from both types of fields?leased land for brick-making and virgin fields. The crop yield loss due to top-soil removal is found to be much less than expected due to more fertile soil in the region. In the long run, however, the opportunity cost of selling top-soil for brick-making is likely to increase as good quality soils for agriculture become more and more scarce.

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[Rabin Das. (2017); MINING TOP-SOIL FOR BRICK MAKING AND COST FEEDBACK TO ECONOMY AND ENVIRONMENT AN ASSESSMENT ON THE BRICK MANUFACTURING OF KHEJURI CD BLOCKS OVER COASTAL MEDINIPUR IN WEST BENGAL, INDIA. Int. J. of Adv. Res. 5 (Jun). 210-224] (ISSN 2320-5407). www.journalijar.com

Rabin Das
Assistant Professor of Geography, Bajkul Milani Mahavidyalaya (VU)

DOI:

Article DOI: 10.21474/IJAR01/4401      
DOI URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.21474/IJAR01/4401

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