Development of a Web-Based Platform for Monitoring Coal Mining Activities in Enugu State

Enugu State has a historically significant coal mining industry centred in communities such as Iva Valley, Ogbete, and Onyeama, and while large-scale commercial mining has declined, artisanal and small-scale mining activities continue to raise concerns around environmental degradation, occupational safety, and regulatory compliance. The absence of a structured digital monitoring platform has limited the ability of the Enugu State Ministry of Mines and Steel Development to track mining activity, enforce regulations, and capture production data necessary for revenue assessment. This study developed a web-based platform for monitoring coal mining activities in Enugu State, providing a centralised digital environment for mine operators to submit operational data and for regulatory officials to review and act on submissions in near-real time. The system was built using PHP, MySQL, and Leaflet.js for geographic visualisation of mining site locations across the state. Core modules included operator registration, activity reporting, compliance status tracking, environmental incident logging, and administrative analytics dashboards. Field interviews with mine operators and regulatory staff in Enugu informed the platform's data requirements and workflow design. Prototype testing confirmed reliable data submission, accurate map rendering of mine locations, and timely compliance alert generation. Regulatory staff participants identified the platform as a significant improvement over existing paper-based reporting systems. The study concluded that a digital monitoring platform would strengthen regulatory oversight of coal mining in Enugu State and support more sustainable management of the sector's environmental and economic dimensions.

Keywords: coal mining, monitoring platform, Enugu State, regulatory compliance, web-based system