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{{Short description|Coal field in Jharkhand, India}}
{{Infobox mine
| name = Jharia coalfield
| image =Jharia coalfield, Jharkhand.jpg
| width =
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| pushpin_map = India Jharkhand
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| coordinates = {{coord|23|45|5.6|N|86|25|13.2|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| display =
| place =
| subdivision_type =
| state/province = [[Jharkhand]]
| country = [[India]]
| owner =
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| acquisition year =
| products = [[Coking coal]]
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}}
'''Jharia coalfield''' is a large coal field located in the east of [[India]] in [[Jharia]], Dhanbad, [[Jharkhand]]. Jharia represents the largest [[coal]] reserves in [[India]] having estimated reserves of 19.4 billion tonnes of coking coal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibm.nic.in/IMYB%202011_Coal%20&%20Lignite.pdf |title=Coal in India |year=2012 |publisher=ibm.nic.in |access-date=2013-07-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130811050549/http://ibm.nic.in/IMYB%202011_Coal%20%26%20Lignite.pdf |archive-date=2013-08-11 }}</ref> The coalfield is an important contributor to the local economy, employing much of the local population either directly or indirectly.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last1=Pai|first1=Sandeep|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-iMZtQEACAAJ&q=Total+Transition:+The+Human+Side+of+the+Renewable+Energy+Revolution|title=Total Transition: The Human Side of the Renewable Energy Revolution|last2=Carr-Wilson|first2=Savannah|date=2018|publisher=Rocky Mountain Books|isbn=978-1-77160-248-8|language=en}}</ref>

The fields have suffered a coal bed fire since at least 1916, resulting in 37 millions tons of coal consumed by the fire, and significant [[Subsidence|ground subsidence]] and water and air pollution in local communities including the city of [[Jharia]]. The resulting pollution has led to a government agency designated for moving local populations, however, little progress has been made in the relocation.

==Coal field==
The coal field lies in the [[Damodar River#Damodar Valley|Damodar River Valley]], and covers about 110 square miles (280 square km), and produces [[bituminous coal]] suitable for coke. Most of India's coal comes from Jharia. Jharia coal mines are India's most important storehouse<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.edugreen.teri.res.in/EXPLORE/n_renew/jharia.htm |title=The Jharia coal field fire |access-date=2016-02-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713193226/http://edugreen.teri.res.in/explore/n_renew/jharia.htm |archive-date=2007-07-13 |url-status=dead }}</ref> of prime [[Coke (fuel)|coke]] coal used in blast furnaces, it consists of 23 large underground and nine large open cast mines.<ref name=JhariaTimes>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121019141836/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2006-08-31/india/27787628_1_jharia-shibu-soren-new-township Jharia to be shifted, The Times of India, 31 Aug 2006]</ref>

==History==
The mining activities in these coalfields started in 1894 and had really intensified by 1925. The first Indians to arrive and break monopoly of British in Coal mining were [[Gujarati people|Gujarati]] railway contractors from [[Mistris of Kutch|Kutch]]<ref>Town survey report: Bihar, Dhanbad by Rajendra Prasad Assistant Director of Census Operations, Bihar S. C. Saxena Deputy Director of Census Operations, Bihar. 1988 :pp 22: It was the existence of coal that first attracted the railway authority to extend the railways and with them came the Gujrati people as an expert railway contractor with an experience of railway construction work at Thana. They then met Raja of Jharia and purchased some having underneath wast {{sic}} wealth in shape of coal...</ref><ref name=n/> some of whom decided to plunge into the coal mining business and were thus the pioneers in starting coal mining in Jharia coalfields belt around 1890–95.<ref name=cen>{{cite book|title=Census of India, 1981: Bihar. Series 4|year=1981|publisher=Controller of Publications – Bihar|page=22|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rbNHAAAAYAAJ&q=expert+contractor|quote=It was the existence of coal that first attracted the railway authority to extend the railways and with them came the Gujrati people as an expert railway contractor with an experience of railway construction work at Thana. They then met Raja of Jharia and purchased some having underneath wast wealth in shape of coal}}</ref><ref name=n/> In Jharia-Dhanbad belt [[Seth Khora Ramji]] was the first Indian to break monopoly of Europeans and founded Khas Jharia, Golden Jharia, Fatehpur, Balihari, Khas Jeenagora, East Bagatdih Collieries with his brothers between 1894 and 1910. In Pure Jharia Colliery Khora Ramji and brothers were partners with [[Diwan Bahadur D.D. Thacker]].<ref name=n>Diary of Golden Days at Jharia – A Memoir & History of Gurjar Kashtriya Samaj of Kutch in Coalfields of Jharia – written by Natwarlal Devram Jethwa of Calcutta/Sinugra compiled by Raja Pawan Jethwa: 1998</ref>
<ref name="archive.org">[https://archive.org/stream/bengalassambehar00playuoft/bengalassambehar00playuoft_djvu.txt Gazetteers of Bengal, Assam, Bihar & Orissa 1917 Khora Ramji Colliries]</ref>
<ref>[http://indiankanoon.org/doc/1643160/ Ambalal Khora Ramji Legal 1]</ref>
<ref name="Khora Ramji Mines capsized in 1938">[https://books.google.com/books?id=CbmyAAAAIAAJ&q=khora+ramji+ Khora Ramji Mines capsized in 1938]</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">Encyclopedia of Bengal, Bihar & Orissa by British Authorities – 1920 : People from the region : Life sketch of Seth Khora Ramji Chawra noted in 1920</ref> The Encyclopaedia of Bengal, Bihar & Orissa (1920) by British Gazetteer mentions about Seth Khora Ramji as under :-

{{blockquote|..at that time (in 1890s) the Jharia coal fields were being exploited by Europeans and Seth Khora Ramji was first Indian to seize the opportunity. He purchased two collieries to begin with. Gradually others from Kutch and Gujarat followed suit and now Jharia has been changed into a Gujarati settlement with about 50 [[Kutchi people|Kutchi]] out of 92 [[Gujarati people|Gujarati]] collieries proprietors with Seth Khora Ramji as head of them all. He is now sole proprietor of two collieries and a financing member of about eight collieries. Several district officials have remarked him as multi-millionaire, one of the first class parties in Jharia.}}

The Gujarati migrants, majority of whom from Kutch,<ref name=n/> took on lease the coal mining fields from [[Raja of Jharia]] at various locations to start collieries at [[Jharia Khas|Khas Jharia]], [[Jamadoba]], [[Baliari|Balihari]], [[Tisra]], [[Katras]]garh, [[Kailudih]], Kusunda, [[Gobindpur, Jharkhand|Govindpur]], [[Sijua]], [[Sijhua]], [[Loyabad]], [[Joyrampur]], [[Bhaga]], [[Matadih]], [[Mohuda]], [[Dhaunsar|Dhansar]], [[Bhuli, India|Bhuli]], [[Bermo]], [[Mugma]], [[Chas, Bokaro|Chas]]nala-[[Bokaro Steel City|Bokaro]], [[Bhagatdih|Bugatdih]], [[Chhotaputki|Putki]], Pandibri, Rajapur, [[Jeenagora]], [[Gareria]], [[Chirkunda]], [[Bhowrah]], [[Sahnidih|Sinidih]], [[Kenduadih|Kendwadih]], [[Dumka]], etc.<ref name=n/><ref>[http://coal.nic.in/ca6.pdf Coking Coal Nationalisation Act of 1972] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313073759/http://coal.nic.in/ca6.pdf |date=2012-03-13 }}</ref>
<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://coal.nic.in/ca7.pdf |title=Coal Mines Nationalization Act, 1973 |access-date=2016-02-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716094936/http://coal.nic.in/ca7.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Coal field fire ===
[[File:Coal Mine.jpg|thumb|Jharia Coal mine with smoke and burning embers coming from the underground [[Coal-seam fire|coal field fire]]. The fire has burned for nearly a century and displaced or endangered the health of 100s of thousands of people.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />]]
Source:<ref name=":0" />

Jharia is famous for a [[Coal-seam fire|coal field fire]] that has burned underground for nearly a century. A 2007 estimate, described 37 million tons of coal consumed by the fires since their start.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Human Cost Of India's Push to Produce More Coal|url=https://e360.yale.edu/features/on_burning_ground_human_cost_indias_push_produce_more_coal|access-date=2020-08-02|website=Yale E360|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Stracher|first=Glenn B.|date=2007|title=Coal fires burning around the world: Opportunity for innovative and interdisciplinary research|url=http://www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/archive/17/11/pdf/i1052-5173-17-11-36.pdf|journal=GSA Today|language=en|volume=17|issue=11|pages=36|doi=10.1130/GSAT01711GW.1|issn=1052-5173|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The first fire was detected in 1916 at [[Bhowrah]] colliery owned by Eastern Coal Co Limited.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rout |first1=Satyasundar Barik & Biswaranjan |title=Breathing fire {{!}} On hot coals at Jharia coal fields |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/breathing-fire-on-hot-coals-at-jharia-coal-fields/article30479245.ece#:~:text=The%20first%20coal%20fire%2C%20a,seam%20of%20the%20Bhowrah%20colliery. |access-date=25 December 2023 |work=The Hindu |date=4 January 2020 |language=en-IN}}</ref><ref name="JhariaTimes" /><ref>{{cite book |title=Transactions of the Mining, Geological and Metallurgical Institute of India |date=1929 |publisher=The Institute |pages=6, 8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iUYtAQAAMAAJ&q=Bhowra+ |access-date=6 July 2024 |language=en}}</ref> First incidence of fire was reported on 1916 in XIV seam of Bhowra Colliery. Since then a number of fires have occurred in U/G, Opencast and in OCM debris. Due to unscientific mining underground fire spread to other mines<ref>{{cite web |title=PB AREA- BCCL JHARIA |url=https://www.bcclweb.in/?page_id=6333&lang=en |access-date=6 July 2024}}</ref>

According to records, almost fifteen years later after first fire incident occurred at Bhowra Collliery owned by Eastern Coal Company, one of the major mines which collapsed due to underground fire was the Khas Jharia mines of [[Seth Khora Ramji]] (1860–1924), who was a pioneer of Indian coalmines. His Khas Jharia mine was one of the firsts to collapse in underground fire in 1930. Two of his collieries, Khas Jharia and Golden Jharia, which worked on maximum 260-foot-deep shafts,<ref name="xxx" /> collapsed due to now infamous underground fires, in which their house and bungalow also collapsed on 8 November 1930, causing 18 feet subsidence and widespread destruction.<ref name="archive.org" /><ref name="Khora Ramji Mines capsized in 1938" /><ref name="xxx">{{cite book|title=Peripheral Labour: Studies in the History of Partial Proletarianization edited by Shahid Amin, Marcel van der Linden|year=1997|page=83|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FClErftju_kC&q=JHARIA+ONE+OF+THE+OLDEST+MINES+FIRE&pg=PA83|isbn=9780521589000|last1=Amin|first1=Samir|last2=Amin|first2=Shahid|last3=Linden|first3=Marcel van der|publisher=Cambridge University Press }}</ref><ref name=n/><ref>Nanji Bapa ni Nondh-pothi published in Gujarati in year 1999 from Vadodara. It is a diary of Railway Contracts done by KGK community noted by Nanji Govindji Tank of Jamshedpur, compiled by Dharsibhai Jethalal Tank, Tatanagar. (Aank Sidhhi awarded to book by Kutch Shakti at Mumbai in 2000): Life Sketch of Seth Khora Ramji Chawra Page :76</ref><ref name="f">[https://books.google.com/books?id=CbmyAAAAIAAJ&q=seth+khora+ramji] ''The Jharia underground fire still raging first came to notice in November, 1930 with subsidance at Seth Khora Ramji's Khas Jharia Colliery(Page 159). He was told that Seth Khora Ramji, whose mines lay underneath Jharia, had chosen to live in his house, which also collapsed in subsidance(Page 160)''. "The politics of labour under late colonialism: workers, unions, and the state in Chota Nagpur, 1928–1939 by Dilip Simeon."</ref> The fire never stopped despite sincere efforts by mines department and railway authorities and in 1933 flaming crevasses lead to exodus of many residents.<ref name="xxx" /> The [[1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake]] led to further spread of fire and by 1938 the authorities had declared that there is raging fire beneath the town with 42 collieries out of 133 on fire.<ref>Searchlight, 24 January 1936.</ref>

In 1972, more than 70 mine fires were reported in this region. As of 2007, more than 400,000 people who live in Jharia are living on land in danger of subsidence due to the fires, and according to Satya Pratap Singh, "Jharia township is on the brink of an ecological and human disaster".<ref name=":0">[http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=ab7c12d5-2837-4b87-804c-2649fd1a7413&MatchID1=4627&TeamID1=1&TeamID2=6&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1165&PrimaryID=4627&Headline='Declare+Jharia+fire+a+national+disaster' Hindustan Times, 15 December 2007]{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The government has been criticized for a perceived lackadaisical attitude<ref>[https://archive.today/20120908233321/http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V8C-4C4W52H-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=5d2c09a9fa7df30fb2b5ded8c3002a7c The Jharia mine fire control technical assistance project: an analysis, April 2004]</ref> towards the safety of the people of Jharia.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060902180620/http://www.hindu.com/mag/2006/08/27/stories/2006082700070500.htm "Inside Coal Mine Fires", a documentary, 2005]</ref> Heavy fumes emitted by the fires<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110608142732/http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2007AM/finalprogram/abstract_132434.htm ESTIMATION OF GAS EMISSIONS FROM SHALLOW SUBSURFACE COAL FIRES IN JHARIA COALFIELD]</ref> lead to severe health problems such as breathing disorders and skin diseases among the local population.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|date=2013-04-15|title=India Together: In the line of fire - 13 November 2006|url=http://www.indiatogether.org/2006/nov/hlt-mining.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415053138/http://www.indiatogether.org/2006/nov/hlt-mining.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-04-15|access-date=2021-09-28|website=archive.ph}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Reinventing Jharia Coalfield. Edited by N.C. Saxena, Gurdeep Singh, K.N. Singh and B.N. Pan. Jodhpur, Scientific, 2005, vi, 246 p.. {{ISBN|81-7233-398-6}}.
* {{cite journal|title=Satellites track the fires raging beneath India|date=18 July 2006|journal=New Scientist|issue=2560|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19125605.600-satellites-track-the-fires-raging-beneath-india.html|url-access=subscription}}
* {{cite news|url=http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=205350|title=German major eyes Jharia coal fires|last=Roychowdhury|first=Indronil|date=15 October 2006|work=Kolkata Newsline|access-date=2009-05-02}}{{dead link|date=October 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
* {{cite episode | title = India: Children of the Inferno | series = Unreported World | series-link = Unreported World | airdate = 24 April 2009 | season = 17 | number = 7 | url = http://www.channel4.com/programmes/unreported-world/episode-guide/series-2009/episode-7 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090515040822/http://www.channel4.com/programmes/unreported-world/episode-guide/series-2009/episode-7 | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2009-05-15 }}
* {{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200904121051.htm |title=Coal mine fires an election issue in Jharkhand |date=12 April 2009 |work=The Hindu |access-date=2009-05-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104062208/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200904121051.htm |archive-date= 4 November 2012 }}
* {{cite news|url=http://www.bombayfc.com/wasteland|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090515105844/http://bombayfc.com/wasteland/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=15 May 2009|title=Web documentary about the people who live in proximity to the underground coal fires |date=6 May 2009|work=Bombay Flying Club - www.bombayfc.com|access-date=2009-05-02}}
* eBook about the Jharia Coalfields, Zipfel, Isabell https://www.amazon.com/The-Jharia-Coalfields-ebook/dp/B0095I2AH4
* "Solar, Eclipsed: Coal? or the Sun? The Power Source India Chooses May Decide the Fate of the Entire Planet." By Charles C. Mann. Wired, November 2015. https://www.wired.com/2015/11/climate-change-in-india/

==External links==
* {{Cite web|url=http://dhanbad.nic.in/links/jharia.htm|title=Dhanbad District Of Jharkhand-An Official Website|access-date=2021-04-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140127033026/http://dhanbad.nic.in/links/jharia.htm|archive-date=2014-01-27|language=en}}
* {{Cite web|url=https://dhanbad.nic.in/map-of-district/|title=Map of District {{!}} District Dhanbad, Government of Jharkhand {{!}} India|access-date=2021-04-15|language=en}}
* {{Cite web|url=http://jharia.in/|title=Welcome to Jharia.in - Jharia Coal Fire Area: News About Hopes|access-date=2021-04-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201185512/http://jharia.in/|archive-date=2020-02-01}}
* {{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-23422068|title=In pictures: India coal fires - BBC News|date=2013-08-14|access-date=2021-04-15|language=en}}

{{Coalfields}}
{{authority control}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{EngvarB|date=December 2020}}

[[Category:Coalfields of India]]
[[Category:Mining in Jharkhand]]

Jharia coalfield - Revision history

CleanupBot at 05:23, 22 March 2026