Reign of fire

Jharia has been burning for over a century. Plumes of smoke billow from heaps of coal scattered across this coal belt in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad district, giving the eerie impression of mass funeral pyres smoldering on a lifeless land. But Sarju Bhuiyan, born into this inferno 50 years ago, knows how to dig coal from the scorched earth. In fact, it is the only skill he has mastered and is now passing on to his two children.

In the sweltering heat of June, when Down To Earth (DTE) visited the coal belt, Bhuiyan was preparing to enter the open-cast mine that adjoins his house, carrying nothing but a pickaxe and a handwoven basket. Suddenly, an ambulance with its siren blaring, sped through the haze towards a group of soot-covered men scurrying across the mine. “There must have been an accident in the mine. It’s a routine affair,” Bhuiyan says. Then, almost in a disturbingly calm voice, he adds: “Even this ground we are standing on could cave in, or a boulder might hit us from nowhere. It is also hard to judge the flames inside these ever-burning mines during daytime. Every day, we go to work with death hanging over us.”

Bhuiyan’s one-room house offers little shelter either. Spirals of smoke and gas seep through cracks in the floor from time to time. It feels as if the house rests atop a smoldering furnace.

Since 2009, the authorities have declared the neighbourhood, where Bhuiyan lives, unsafe for habitation and have repeatedly urged families to relocate. In 2024, an adjacent settlement, Lalten Ganj, was devoured by surface fires and land subsidence. Yet, Bhuiyan and his neighbours remain unwilling. “I will not leave these coal mines. Let me die here if I must,” Bhuiyan declares. They fear that those who left the mines with the hope of a better future are now left without homes or jobs.

The Jharia coalfield is known for its vast deposits of high-quality coking coal and holds the largest coal reserves in the country. Mining began here in 1916 under private ownership, and that same year, the first fire was officially recorded. Since then, underground fires and land subsidence have become rampant due to the extensive coal deposits beneath the surface. The fires have continued to claim both lives and livelihoods. According to the Jharia Master Plan of 2009, an estimated 37 million tonnes of coal have been lost to underground fires; another 220 billion tonnes of coal cannot be mined because of the fires. As per an estimate by the Union Ministry of Coal, of the 107 million tonnes of coal that can be mined from 16 locations, only 43 million tonnes had been extracted by June 2023.

Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited, which operates the mines in Jharia, primarily by leasing them to private companies, has undertaken significant efforts to combat the fires using techniques such as sur-face sealing, trenching, infusion of inert gas, and remote sand-bentonite mixture flushing. In a press note released in September 2024, the coal ministry claimed that through scientific interventions, the surface area affected by fire has been reduced from 17.32 sq km to just 1.80 sq km. The number of affected sites has also dropped from 77 to 27. The government now aims to control all surface fires by December 2025, according to the press note.

But several residents informed DTE that more than 70 sites in Jharia are still burning and land subsidence continues in several areas. In one of the recent incidents, a 3-metre-wide, 4-metre-deep crater opened up near Indira Chowk on the night of July 19, and swallowed an old mini-truck abandoned on the road. Though no human lives were lost, the panic was widespread. Local residents are furious at the administrative inaction and negligence of BCCL. Rajkumar, who works in Dhanbad city, recalls that in May 2017, one Bablu Khan and his son Rahim had come to Indira Chowk for tea at around 7 in the morning. As they were heading home, the ground beneath them caved in. Both fell into the pit and could not be rescued. After eight hours of operation, only skeletal remains were found.

Tulsi Rawani of the Bihar Colliery Kamgar Union (BCKU), a trade union, says that people in Jharia want to be relocated to safer places. They seek a better life with assured income. But policy-level failure on displacement has left them with-out hope or options.

Efforts to rehabilitate affected residents of Jharia have been going on since 1978. Two decades ago, the idea of re-locating the entire town of Jharia gained momentum following a declaration by the then Chief Minister Babulal Marandi. In 2009, the Union government approved the Jharia Master Plan for dealing with fire, subsidence as well as rehabilitation. As many as 595 sites, covering 25.70 sq km, were identified from where residents needed to be relocated and rehabilitated. The masterplan expired in August 2021. As the Union coal ministry admits in its September 2023 press note: “Initially, BCCL was to construct 25,000 houses, but due to superannuation and other reasons, the number of required houses reduced to 15,713. BCCL has constructed 11,798 houses till date, and the remaining are under construction.”

In June 25, 2025, the government introduced a revised version of the master plan, with an allocation of Rs 5,940 crore. It focuses on targeted skill development and income-generating opportunities, with a livelihood grant of Rs 1 lakh and access to credit support of Rs 3 lakh. Experts say these measures may not be adequate.

Rawani alleges that not enough shelters have been built for resettlement, nor has a comprehensive survey of all affected families been conducted. Even now, about 15,000 labourers work in Jharia’s coal mines. They are being displaced arbitrarily with no assurances of rehabilitation or compensation for relocation. Basic facilities like water, schools, healthcare and transportation also lack in the resettlement colonies, making life difficult. Additionally, these colonies are often located far from the city, where job opportunities are minimal. So many are reluctant to relocate, Rawani adds.

As of now, only two resettlement colonies have been set up for the affected families under the 2009 Jharia Master Plan. These colonies—Belgaria and Karmatand—are located 20 km from Jharia. “They are like isolated islands,” says Rajiv Sharma of Jharia Coalfield Bachao Samiti.

DTE visited these resettlement colonies in June. In Belgaria—the first resettlement colony built under the 2009 Jharia Master Plan—Kiran Ram explains that he was relocated there in 2009 by BCCL after being moved from an extremely sensitive fire zone. “But since moving here, I have been unemployed,” he laments. “Travelling to Dhanbad or Jharia for work costs Rs 50–Rs 100 daily. There is neither easy transport nor daily employment.” Belgaria has around 2,200 quarters. The two- and three-storey buildings have decayed within just 10 years. Bablu Singh, showing his home, says, “Rainwater leaks through the roofs. This is worse than the coal mines of Jharia—at least there, we had work.” A man who runs a mobile shop in Belgaria, requesting anonymity, complains that though a health center was established, it rarely opens on time and doctors seldom visit the hospital. Schools have only recently been set up.

At Karmatand, construction of new colonies is progressing sluggishly, while many houses remain vacant. On the day DTE visited Karmatand, Sudhir Kumar Singh relocated to the colony with his five-member family and household goods. Sudhir Singh told DTE that he has been relocated from a mining zone in Jharia. A BCCL official informed him about the colony and the flat allotted to him. However, his relocation slip from BCCL, reads: “This family was residing unauthorisedly in the NT-ST-JG colliery cluster (a major mining zone) in Jharia and is being relocated to another site for safety rea-sons.” He denied having received any transportation allowance. Sudhir Singh is now worried about his means of income and ownership of house.

DTE met several other families at Karmatand who have been relocated from mining areas such as Golden Pahadi, Lodna and Bastacola but without any official paperwork. Residents fear that without documents, they could be pushed out of the location again. “We’ll be tossed around endlessly, and our children will be homeless and jobless,” one resident says.

Sharma argues that a survey must be conducted to identify affected population, which he estimates to be over 1 million. His association, Coalfield Bachao Samiti, also demands the establishment of a judicial commission to resolve issues related to rehabilitation and compensation. Landowners should be compensated as per the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act of 2013. Those relocated should be given Rs 20 lakh per family under various social welfare schemes, along with homes under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. “Finally, if Jharia is to be transformed,” he insists, “a Chandigarh-like city must be built without any delay.”

This article was originally published in the August 16-31, 2025 print edition of Down To Earth