Coal burns but makes people earn! This must be the principle of the settlers sitting right on the mouth of engulfing inferno at Pandeybera of Jharia coal mines. Otherwise none would have opted to remain stationary at the pit head ignoring flames of underground fire that has now posed threat on the entire Dhanbad-Jharia coal belt.
The fire in the coal mine said to have started when the mines were under private owners under British rule. Due to ignorant attitude of the miners and persistent overlooking the fire has now spread in over 9 km area and up to 12 meters in depth of Bharat Coking Coal limited's Jharia coalfields.
"Around 300 families are there right on the coal bearing area. They are unauthorised settlers who are just braving the life threatening danger so that they can steal the mined coal and sell that to the middlemen who smuggle out it to Bihar, UP and even Bangladesh. Despite repeated notices and attempts to remove them, they are adamant on staying here itself," said Anup Kumar Mahtha, a field area staff of BCCl.
Mahtha is also looking after the issue and working in close coordination with Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFER), the expert agency supplying relevant data and methodologies to douse the fire and other mine safety guidelines. The institute in the report has issued stern warning to the BCCl about danger posed by the firing mines.
"This is a kind of wild fire. It gets all the desired condition to burn such inflammable gases like methane and oxygen freely. It is very difficult to control it through nitrogen filling as it is open cast mine. Pouring water makes it even dangerous as due to the steam generated it can explode anywhere. We fear that any fine morning, substantial part of the mine can cave-in along with whatever is on the ground," said Nageshwar Sahay, Senior Principal Scientist with CIMFER.
Besides the threat of getting subsided into the oven, continuous emission of toxic gases like sulfur, carbon monoxide, H2S and hydrocarbon due to coal fire exposes the settlers to serious health hazards. "All the time we have to inhale poisonous gases. It gets even difficult in summers when you would feel all the time like being in a furnace. Very few of us are healthy. Our lifespan is extremely short," said Rahul Kumar, a youth who blames BCCl for turning its blind eye on the mine fire.
"They just do customary exercises like sand filling, water filling etc. Their officials and contractors are making money in the name of controlling the fire. Nothing has happened for last 50-60 years. But they are only focusing how to remove us. Where would we go and what would we earn if settled elsewhere," adds Rahul with nodding heads from other residents living dangerously in shanties with their children and livestock.
Moreover, officials of BCCl and CIMFER are of the view that there is only way left to deal with the massive fire that has also caught attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he visited Jharkhand during election campaigns. "The remaining coal has to be detached from that is burning. We would remove entire un-burnt coal by focusing on this quickly as plan is ready. But for that the area has to be vacated first," said CIMFER Director PK Singh.
More worrying is the fact that when just one way is left and resettlement and rehabilitation plan is ready in the form of 'Jharia Action Plan' under PMO's special guidance, the fire is continuing unabated. May be because the resistance is fueled by fire of empty stomach which is fierier than the live inferno!