Hell Hole: Living on Jharia’s Fiery Mines /
-
It’s hell on earth, literally. The smell, the smoke, the heat, the conditions. No human should have to live here, work here, grow up here, exist here, yet thousands do.
The Jharia coal mines have been on fire in Jharkhand, India, for almost 100 years. As the fires spread, many people live with the ground beneath them burning every day. Houses crack, crumble, and subside…so do people. Locals tell stories about villagers sleeping and the earth beneath them giving way, their bodies never to be found in the inferno. Just a few months ago, a 15 year-old girl disappeared in the fires while taking her morning bathroom break.
Villagers survive by picking illegal coal from the mines to sell at local markets for about a dollar a basket. They collect the coal, and burn it once in order to improve its quality, breathing in the poisonous smoke. None of the illegal miners wear protection.
This is a complex problem as a plan has been put through with hopes that the residents will move to a new re-homing area.
Local people are hesitant as the plan offers a small room for what is commonly a huge family. Most feel that they are asked to move because the price of the coal below them is worth more than their existence.
RSS
Facebook
Twitter