Indian coal mines have been burning for a century

For a century, fires have raged in the coal mines of the Indian state of Jharkhand, where young Savitri Mahto, like 100,000 others, is risking her life to collect coal.

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“The fires have charred the earth,” the 22-year-old young woman, who is illegally collecting coal amid the blazes near a large commercial open-pit mine, told AFP.

“We live in fear every day,” she adds.

Indian coal mines have been burning for a century

Photo: AFP

Subterranean fires, which scientists say were caused by a 1916 mining accident, are ripping chasms into the ground that collapse, engulfing everything, people and homes alike.

“It’s dangerous to live here,” says Savitri Mahto, who dreams of becoming a nurse. “Houses can collapse at any time.”

Fossil fuel collectors and activists report that hundreds of people have died over the decades.

Indian coal mines have been burning for a century

Photo: AFP

“Many accidents have happened and continue to happen because of the ground collapsing,” she tells AFP while busy working around a coal pile that produces coke, a compact fuel used in particular for cooking and to power brick kilns.

Arjun Kumar, a 32-year-old vegetable seller who lost his house in a collapse, fears his “life will be hell” if he is not relocated and is “forced to live like a beggar on the streets”.

Indian coal mines have been burning for a century

Photo: AFP

Coal consumption in India, the world’s most populous country and fifth-largest economy, has doubled in the last decade, powering almost 70% of the country’s electricity grid.

Indian coal mines have been burning for a century

Photo: AFP

Half of India’s greenhouse gas emissions come from burning coal. Only China consumes more.

According to experts, the sources of fire in opencast mines covering an area of ​​almost 300 km2 are burning millions of tons of coal and producing huge amounts of CO2.

Indian coal mines have been burning for a century

Photo: AFP

Dense gray smoke hovers over the fires, enveloping these dark and chaotic areas, creating scenes with an apocalypse atmosphere.

Live and die

“We have a responsibility to society with regard to the environment,” acknowledges Samiran Dutta, director of the mines commercial operator, Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL), a subsidiary of the public company Coal India.

According to Mr Dutta, BCCL cannot be held responsible for the safety of people illegally entering the mines. In contrast, he points out that the company has purchased “various equipment” such as foggers in hopes of reducing air pollution.

But efforts to put out the fires, including using liquid nitrogen and digging firebreaks, are unsuccessful.

Savitri Mahto adjusts the shawl to cover her soot-black face. “The air is very polluted,” she says, citing the toxic gases that burn her eyes and lungs.

Indian coal mines have been burning for a century

Photo: AFP

The miners work in appalling conditions, but “coal is vital in Jharkhand,” argues AK Jha, a local union leader, who estimates the mines could continue to produce coal for the steel industry for 200 years. In his opinion, “the coal will never end”.

In India, the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases behind China and the United States, demand for electricity continues to rise and there is a rapidly expanding middle class that primarily needs to equip itself with air conditioning and refrigerators.

So far, just one degree Celsius of warming has made extreme weather events more destructive and deadly.

India, with a population of 1.4 billion, points out that its per capita emissions are below the global average, but it has nevertheless committed to reducing its carbon emissions to zero by 2070.

State authorities began evacuating mine workers in 2008, but many feel their livelihoods have been deprived.

Sushila Devi, whose 15-year-old daughter died in a coal-picking collapse four years ago, says she has no choice but to stay.

Indian coal mines have been burning for a century

AFP

“I’m still scared of the same fate, but I’m helpless,” admits this woman, who earns just $6 a day. “If I’m not working, what should I eat?”

In the absence of other options, illegal coal mining will continue, Jha said.

“The key issue is livelihood,” says Mr Jha. “If the government is not able to create jobs, people have to be content with what nature gives them.”