Visit the Volcano in India That Has Been Burning for Over 100 Years

Visit the Volcano in India That Has Been Burning for Over 100 Years (Representative Image: Canva)

Jharkhand is a region situated in the eastern part of India that is more than a century old and is still under fire. The underground coal fire has been blazing on the Jharia coal field, which is a part of Dhanbad district, since approximately 1916. It all started as accidental coal seam ignitions, but it has turned out to be one of the longest-running ambient fires in the world, which has implicated the lives of thousands of people.

They are not the normal volcanoes, but the impacts are volcanic in magnitude. Deep coal beds, which are brought into light through mining activities, ignite themselves either through spontaneous combustion, poor waste handling or improper sealing. The fires are burning underground and are usually hot, such that it is almost unbearable to walk in some places. When the structural support is burnt, when the locations of earth collapse and sudden chasms appear. Smoke, heat and poisonous gases ooze continuously.

Jharia has more than 70 different fire zones that spread over hundreds of square kilometres. There are those fires that attain a few metres in depth, and there are fires that burn dozens of metres deep. The coal fires have burnt away millions of tons of coal, and this has made large reserves unavailable. The environmental destruction, subsidence of the land and health threats have accumulated: people experience respiratory diseases, infected soil and water, and some people have been forced to leave the area.

Nevertheless, despite the dangers, a great number of individuals remain. The coal economy is strongly connected to villages and settlements, and their relocation will lead to the loss of homes, jobs, and connections. The methods which governments and companies have attempted to use to contain or put out the fires include underground barriers, sealing off the seams, pouring inert materials or moving people. There have been mixed results; the magnitude and intensity of the fires make it hard to contain them completely.

A trip to the region is an eye-opening experience of the disregard against human demand. You can see smoke tunnels coming out of the ground, you can feel the heat being burned by the cracking ground, you can breathe the acrid air, and you see that everyday life continues in the shadow of the fire. To those who want to see the raw might of nature combined with the power of man, Jharia is intriguing as well as devastating.