Assessment of mining derelict land using multicriteria decision-making technique and approaches toward sustainable regeneration—a case study in Jamuria CD block, West Bengal (India)

Abstract Land provides the basic natural, economic, and ecological resource for human civilization from centuries. Mining is an extractive industry that creates pits, scars, and mining waste dump especially when operated on open cast basis and leaves the land derelict in the process of natural resources extraction from the land. Over the year, cumulative consequences of mining are often more vivid and prominent on the natural environment in particular and on all landscape components and functions in general. The present study has been carried on the Jamuria CD block of West Bengal, which has a long history of mining, to examine the extent of land dereliction by using various geospatial techniques within a time framework of 20 years from 2000 to 2019. The result shows significant alteration of natural landscape like wiping the forest cover, significant alteration of existing land use land cover, impeding the natural drainage, formation of anthropogenic landform, and a host that has serious ecological consequences. These are particularly prominent on the north western side of the study area where extensive area has been converted into brownfield. Mining within a sustainable framework is important for the welfare of human beings. Based on the existing state and pressure over the land unit, potential of the land have been calculated by using multiple criteria decision-making process. Hence, dealing all the above, some measures have been proposed for sustainable regeneration of the derelict land.