By Dinesh Dubey

Jharia is a town in the Indian state of Jharkhand which is famous for its rich coal resources, used to make coke that is used in blast furnaces. Several open cast and underground mines exist in this region, along with the coal field fire that has been burning and expanding its reach underneath the ground for more than a century now. As a result, Jharia has been a land of massive subsidence and never-ending destruction of life as well as property. Despite efforts made by the authorities, the uncontrollable flames have hollowed the ground from within and it has taken up uncountable number of lives.


The irony is that the locals are well aware of the deadly risk of living and working on the coalfields, but, they continue to trek the dangerous mountains to earn a living for their family.


Along with inhaling gases like carbon dioxide, oxides of sulphur and nitrogen with oxygen, the noxious fumes surrounding the entire region have reached deep inside the lungs of the young as well as the old. At the same time, the exponentially increasing level of global warming due to these gases has transformed the mineral-rich land into a burning hollow cup that is balanced on the strings of power, illegal practices and profit-making.

Most of the children have never been to schools; for them, these coalfields are their playground and scavenging coal is their sport. Some rare lucky souls who are still fighting with third degree burns all over their body have a story to tell.


Due to the presence of several illegal mines in the region, these places have been left devoid of any kind of aid or development by the government. The continuously burning fire underground that has been spreading to the coal has turned many heads recently and ministers are looking forward to relocating the residents in order to get hold of the massive fire and to save as much coal as possible from getting burned uselessly.


Sadly, Jharia is dying from within, slowly and steadily.
Surely, energy can neither be created nor be destroyed.

Video shot by Ravi Mishra