Jodhpur, Sept. 14 -- Even as mining areas in Rajasthan's Rajsamand district have geographically reduced, mining activity has intensified, causing the loss of 22.49 sq. km. of vegetation in just three years (2020-2023), which was converted into barren land-most prominently in the north-east of the study area. This is the key finding of a new research paper that raises serious environmental concerns over marble mining in the region. The study, "Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) Change Detection using GIS and Machine Learning in Google Earth Engine to Evaluate Effect of Mining on Vegetation and Air Quality: A case from Rajsamand, Rajasthan, India," was carried out by S.K. Paunikar, Ayush P. Patil, and J.R. Shrivatra of Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University. According to the researchers, "mining area is reducing in aerial extent but mining activity is intensifying," with marble mines shifting from outward expansion to deeper vertical excavation. Using Sentinel-2 satellite imagery and advanced computational tools such as Google Earth Engine (GEE) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) the researchers found that vegetation cover dropped sharply from 101.06 sq. km. in 2020 to 78.58 sq. km. in 2023. Meanwhile, barren land increased from 252.64 sq. km. to 303.43 sq. km., and water bodies shrank from 57.50 sq. km. to 40.39 sq. km. The study also revealed that air pollution was consistently high over marble mining areas. "Total of 3 sq. km. of area is under the highest pollution category both in 2020 and 2023," the paper notes, attributing this to intensified mining operations despite the reduced geographical spread....