Report on the Training of the Geologists of Tata Steel by JCSES

Report on the Training of the Geologists of Tata Steel by JCSES

A comprehensive training programme for imparting training to the geologists of Tata Steel was taken up by Jadavpur Centre for Study of Earth Science as per the request of Natural Resource Division (NRD) of Tata Steel, Jamshedpur. The proposed training encompassed broadly ‘Geological mapping, coal exploration techniques and other associated studies, Coal Resource Assessment and Geological Report writing in West Bokaro Coalfield, Jharkhand and the time scheduled wasaround two weeks.

Five faculty members were selected to take up the assignment and as per their suggestions and after severaldiscussions with NRD, Tata Steel a detailed programme was chalked out  and the broad outline of the same areas follows:

1.      Reconnaissance Traverse by four faculty members along with officials of Tata Steel in Ara – Dumurbera area of West Bokaro Coalfield for three days in the month of February 2013to select the mapping area

And by five faculty members between the  periods from 9th to 22nd of April 2013 :

2.      Introductory lectures on different aspects of mapping& coal exploration, Gondwana geology and local geological set up -2 days

3.      Geological mapping of coalfield along with lectures on different related geological topics -7 days

4.      Exercises on different  coal exploration techniques, borehole core logging, assessment of coal resource of an explored block and preparation of geological map, sections, charts, tables etc. and report writing - 5 days

Training programme for ten geologists was inaugurated on 9-4-2013 at the Training Centre of Tata at West Bokaro and attended by Senior executives of Tata Steel, Jamshedpur and  W. Bokaro and was followed by inaugural lecture on Gondwana basins of India and coal/ lignite occurrencesby a faculty of JCSES. From the following day the training continued uninterruptedly as per schedule and officials of Tata steel extend their full cooperation to make it a success. Relevant noteson the different topics and procedure for carrying out  necessary exercises were distributed to the trainees. At the end of training all the trainee geologists submitted reports and the same were scrutinized by the faculty members and returned to them. The evaluation test covering all aspects of training was arranged on 22-4-2013. All the trainees scored above 90%.

 A valedictory function was organized by Tata Steel in the evening of 22-4-2013 where the  both the trainees and the faculty members expressed their views on the training and the senior executives of Tata Steel also conveyed sincere gratitude to the faculties of JCSES.

ROLE OF MAP LITERACY IN ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

Maps are defined as a two dimensional, geometrically accurate representation of a three dimensional space. It is graphic representation of a set of features whose relationships are shown by size, position and time. Map is a tool by which we can view, measure and understand our environment. Map is one of the easiest tools and probably the best tool for establishing any environmental dialogue. It has generally been observed that the basic knowledge about maps is rather low among the people of this country, even among the formally educated. Map learning can make people able to handle geo-environmental information of local, regional, national and global levels efficiently and more accurately. Science Communicators’ forum, a Kolkata based NGO is pursuing map literacy programme in West Bengal since 2004. The organisation had implemented map literacy programme in 40 rural schools of West Bengal where 3000 students were given training on understanding, using, updating and creating maps of their local area. The exercises had given them a better idea and understanding of their local environment. They learnt how to observe the changes that occurred in terms of demography, social pattern, natural resource, pollution and biodiversity. Environmental mapping programme can be a part of environmental education where the learners will learn to prepare local area thematic maps based on different environment related themes and develop local environmental database. In an advance stage of map learning other geo-informatics tools like GPS, remote sensing and GIS may be introduced. A systematic curriculum can be prepared

Does groundwater respond to solar eclipse?

In the year 1980, during the total solar eclipse I conducted some experiments in the unconfined aquifer of Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, India. The study was conducted in open dug well of depth of about 10 metres. Depth to water level measurements started one our before the start of the eclipse and completed after one our after the end of the eclipse. Water level had actually risen by 15 to 16 centimeters during the peak of the eclipse. Though the total eclipse was not visible at Jalpaiguri the groundwater appeared to respond to this astronomical phenomenon.

In the year 1995 there was another total eclipse, which was visible from South 24 Parganas of West Bengal. I along with my colleagues of SWID selected one observation station at Falta where we desired to take water level measurements from very deep and moderately deep tube wells. We started taking measurements at 5 minutes interval from the wells using metallic tapes. We observed the rise of water level during the eclipse and found that the maximum water level rise was achieved at the time of totality. What was actually remarkable that the water level of deeper well rose by 34 cm whereas in the shallower well water level rose by 10 centimetres only.

This year on 22nd July the members of JCSES are going to conduct similar experiments in Jalpaiguri district. They will conduct water level measurements from dug wells for 24 hours starting from 21st July evening.