Critical Appraisal to Assess the Extent of Fire in Old Abandoned Coal Mine Areas - Indian Context

Mine fires in Indian coal mines have a long history of over 140 years and major causes of fire are considered to be spontaneous heating of coal. Regular thermo compositional monitoring plays an important role for assessment of fire in abandoned coal mines and therefore different fire indices assist to categorise location and extent of fire. The paper highlights different methodologies to know extent of fire in old abandoned areas and reviews different fire indices for interpretation of status of mine fires with suitable case studies.