Provenance assessment, transport mechanisms, and human health threats of trace elements in the water resources of Northern Coalfield Limited, Central India

The water resources in Northern Coalfield Limited (NCL), Singrauli, are liable to dynamic changes due to continued mining activities. To understand how mining activities at NCL affect the chemical makeup of ground and surface water, this study analyzed water samples from both sources to determine the movement of ions. The results of chemometric and classical bivariate analysis projects the mechanism behind the groundwater and surface water chemistry. The chemometric and geospatial result confirms silicate weathering as the governing factor, nitrate contamination as anthropogenically sourced, while fluoride is attributed to both natural and anthropogenic sources. Based on the heavy metal pollution index, both groundwater (60 %) and surface water (57 %) in the open-cast coal mining area of Central India are unsuitable for drinking. Groundwater samples showed contamination with nitrate, fluoride, aluminum, chromium, copper, iron, lead, manganese, mercury, cadmium, and nickel. Notably, high Chronic Daily Intake (CDI_oral) and Hazard Quotient (HQ) values for aluminum and manganese in both water sources further confirm their unsuitability for any use. This multi-approach study provides new insights into how mining activities influence the chemistry of groundwater and surface water. Assessing the condition of water resources in this region is crucial for creating effective and sustainable management strategies applicable here and in similar areas.