Impacts of Stone Quarrying On Environment and Socio Economy of the Local Community: The Case of Aira District West Wollega Zone

Abstract

Despite being a profitable industry, quarrying is an extractive and exploitative one that eventually depletes natural resources. The research area is at significant risk for environmental degradation and human socio-economic activities due to the damaging nature of quarrying and inadequate management of quarry sites. In order to gather the necessary data, questionnaires, interviews, observations, and soil samples obtained at a depth of 0–20 cm from 0–5 years, 6–10 years, and above 10 years of the quarry site were used in conjunction with an experimental research design and descriptive survey. A basic random sampling technique was used to pick 101 respondents, 43 of whom were quarry workers and 58 of whom were residents of residential areas. A statistical tool for social science was used to analyse the gathered data, producing statistical graphs and cross-tabulation as well as frequencies for the data's interpretation. The main social effects were related to health, including stress, coughing, and human death, and property damage and air pollution. Deforestation, land use change, land degradation, and landscape modification have all resulted from biodiversity loss. Of the responders in total, 65.3% claimed that an activity had a distracting effect on the surrounding area.