Mine Fires in the Jharia Coal Belt India
Tiane Doan Na Champassak
Agence VU
This photographic reportage is about the inhabitants of Jharia, a coal field area in southern Bihar, India. This region has been hit by the unique phenomenon of mine fires which started in 1916 and is rapidly destroying the only source of prime coking coal in the country. The main focus of the story is to show the residents living in this subsidence hit area and the dangers associated to it such as pollution and land caving.
Preview
The Jharia coal field spreads over an area of 450 square km and contains 40 identified coal seams, of which 19 are workable. Large scale mining activity started in the coal belt only after the East India Railway extended its line from Barakar to Dhanbad near Jharia in the year 1895. A majority of the mines were owned by private companies or individuals until 1971 when the coal sector was nationalised with the formation of Bharat Coking Coal Limited. This coal field has one of the highest seam densities in the world with nearly 11,000 million tonnes of coal in its reserves. The history of mine fires is as old as the history of mining in the Jharia coal belt. Unscientific and haphazard mining by private owners is said to be a major reason for the outbreak of fires in the mines. The other reason for mine fires and subsidence is that the galleries left after excavations were never filledwith sand and water, the usual procedure used to prevent this type of disaster. The first fire occurred underground at Bhowrah in 1916 and with no protective measures being adopted by owners, the number of fires kept increasing; by the year 1960, underground fires had ravaged the entire Jharia coal belt. Seventy fire zones, out of a total of 158 areas, were identified in the Jharia coal fields, destroying at least 37 million tonnes of good quality coal. At present, about 1,864 million tonnes of prime coking coal are locked up due to the underground fires.
In 1994 the World Bank provided a loan of 12 million US dollars and sent two reputed consultants to study the problems concerning the mine fires. According to the World Bank report, the total estimated cost for extinguishing the fires by excavation would be around 2.4 billion US dollars.
Most of the people living in this highly dangerous area belong to the Untouchable caste and steal coal from the open mines which surround their villages and earn their livelihood by selling coal illegally. Having spent one month in the area, I witnessed the terrible conditions which these people live in and I was struck by their willingness to stay in such a polluted and dangerous environment. Houses are being swallowed by the fire, flames are coming out of the surface and were seen rising to 70 feet from it, yet 450, 000 inhabitants continue breathing the highly polluted air and live on the Mine Fires of Jharia.
Tiane Doan na Champassak
