Ghosts of the asbestos mines – a tale of doomed villages in toxic land

Women can been seen dressed in widow’s garments, contaminated hill side serve as playground for children, barren fields tell of the toxic legacy – Roro, 20 kms from Chaibasa West Singhbhum, here there is no leafy greens or humming streams!


The Roro hills is infamous for an abandoned asbestos mine. The place reeks of tell-tale signs of careless closure and the 14 villages that surround the mountains. The only thing that can be seen here is toxic waste – the left overs of 70 years of mining, first by small, local players and then by big ones like Birla.
The hills here were once mined both for asbestos and chromium. It is estimated that nearly 0.7 million tons of asbestos waste mixed with chromite-bearing host rock lies scattered here. In 25 years no study has been conducted to assess the fate of this hazardous waste dumped improperly on top of Roro hills. The waste material extends several meters down slope spreading into the paddy fields on the foothills of Roro. About 40 centimeters of thick silty waste of crushed rocks is spread over the paddy fields and poisoning the local residents.

There are ex miners who have died before their times. “So many people have died before they turned forty,’ says Birsingh Sondi, Sahayak Munda (Deputy Chief) of Roro, who points to his neighbour’s house, “There lived Mangalsingh Sondi, who was 25 when he died.”

Dumbi Boipai, an ex-miner who feels recurring pain in his chest remembers his fellow miners who all are dead, he mumbles first to himself and then aloud, “Pooliya Sondi, Rohto Gop, Vijay Singh Sondi, Rahto Samadh,” and he suddenly refuses to speak as he takes a gasp. Some like Mukund Sundi are barely alive. His young wife is helpless, resigned, refusing to talk.  “I worked in the crusher, where they produced asbestos,” says Mukund Sundi. They use to pay us Rs 7 a day.” Some of his symptoms match TB, but doctors can't pinpoint his illness and so they offer no cure.

There has been no assistance for Mangal Sundi from his former employers. “Koi nahi aya madad ke liye. Koi mera ilaj bhi nahi karwata.” (No one ever has come up for help. No one got me treated.), Sundi says in a whisper.

About 7 million tons of toxic waste is not exactly a playground for children but the children of Roro come here to scavenge for iron scraps that are sold for Rs 12 per kilogram. The slope of the hill which is now a powdery slide is used as a giant slide by the children. However, what they don't know is that such naked exposure to asbestos dust could result in serious diseases like asbestosis, asthma and even cancer.
There are many victims of Roro and the 14 surrounding villages who recall days of reckless mining operations and deplorable conditions of miners. Persistent cough, haemoptysis, pain in chest while breathing is common health complaints.

As per Jun Sunwai reports of a public hearing by Jharkhand Organisation for Human Rights (JOHAR) conducted in 2003, the testimonials of villagers say:

Jeevan Tubid, 50, is an ex underground mine worker who lost his leg while working in the underground mines of Roro as a loader. He has almost lost his eye sight and has intense pain in his lower back. No compensation has been paid yet to him by the mining company.

Pandu Pradhan, 45, almost lost his eye sight while working as a Timber man in the underground mines of Roro. The company gave him spectacles but no compensation.

Lakhan Doraiburu, 70, heavy equipment fell on his leg while working in the plant. No proper treatment was given to him for his injury. He still has lot of pain in his legs. He recalls workers in milling plant were given jaggery to eat. Many of his co-workers in the plant died while working or after the closure of the mines. Workers died of chest pain and spitting blood. No count of how many workers died and of what disease. No medical tests were done on workers while they were employed. No information was divulged on the medical conditions of the workers who were examined by the company doctors.

The asbestos mines were closed down in 1983 after Hyderabad Asbestos Cement Products Ltd. (now known as Hyderabad Industries Limited of the CK Birla group) decided that they were no longer profitable. If there is one example of sheer corporate and Government negligence, it is this.

“Workers who are exposed to asbestos and they are suffering from asbestos-related diseases like asbestosis and mesothalamia. Doctors call them TB patients, as they want to save their employers from giving any compensation,” claims Gopal Krishna, coordinator of the Ban Asbestos India (BANI) Network, a NGO working against the use and production of asbestos nationwide.

More than 40 countries have banned chrysotile asbestos, which finds use as insulation material, and in pipes and roofing.   Over 100 corporations in Europe and the US have gone bankrupt paying liability to asbestos victims and their families. The 4500 crores turnover industry in India, companies’ claim that the kind of asbestos used in India is not carcinogenic, even as all forms of asbestos are classified as carcinogenic by the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). It is mentioned in a report by IARC that was published in 2010 - ‘Epidemiological evidence has increasingly shown an association of all forms of asbestos with an increased risk of lung cancer and mesothelioma.’

Even today, as per law, especially as per section 22 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981, all asbestos mines have to be closed. The Hyderabad Industry Limited of the CK Birla Group did not close their mines at Roro village at Chaibasa, Jharkhand. The asbestos fibres that are blown into the wind, that seep into the fields and rivers, still exist 29 years after the mines shut down.

In his letter to the Union Minister of mines Gopal Krishna writes, “I wish to inform you that due to growing awareness about hazards of asbestos, villagers of Marwan Block in Muzaffarpur, Bihar have stopped the construction of an asbestos based cement plant. Bihar State Human Rights Commission announced that the plant has been wound up.  Kerala State Human Rights Commission has banned use of asbestos roofs in schools, hospitals and public building and has held that exposing citizens to exposure of asbestos fibers and asbestos roofs is a violation of their human rights. National Human Rights Commission has held that even inmates cannot be kept under asbestos roofs in the National Capital Territory of Delhi.”

He adds in the letter, “I submit that some 60 countries have banned asbestos of all kinds including Asian countries like Japan and South Korea. Human biology of people is same everywhere. Indian workers and consumers must be protected from exposure to carcinogenic fibers.”

However for villagers of Roro and other 14 villages surrounding the hills, it has been 29 long years of wait and they are still counting. As generations pass, many die before their time owing to the daily dose of asbestos. Life of a miner matter a little, they die unaccounted and unprotected.

No hospital in 8-km range of ‘New Jharia’

Belgaria- New Jharia, 8 kms from Jharia, 7 kms Dhanbad  
2600 families live here sans electricity sans water supply 

2600 hundred families have been shifted to 1500 quarters in Belgaria, 22 kilometers from Jharia town, a new colony surrounded by jungles with no basic amenities within commutable range.

There is no hospital or medical care, no school, no shops, and, worst of all, no jobs at all. The people of Belgaria have to travel more than 8 kilometers to reach Dhanbad or come back to Jharia to avail the nearest hospital.


Leela, an elderly women living in the new Jharia for a year now said, “Just a month ago a lady died while being taken to Dhanbad in labor pain. We could not take her to hospital on time even booking a vehicle with all money we had.”

“To add to the woes the roads that lead to Dhanbad or Jharia is through jungles. No proper road has been made since the township has been rehabilitated.” retorted Mohan, another resident of Belgaria.

Rajan, a student who has to travel to Jharia everyday to attend his college said, “There is no water or electricity in the area. The street lights are all defunct. The entire area is engulfed in darkness after sunset.”

The residents who are facing immediate evacuation are opposed to moving to Belgaria, where they have been provided accommodation of 10 by 9 feet. The residents wonder how a family of five to six members can adjust and sleep in such a small area.

"There is no water and electricity; this is an attempt to make us homeless," said Madan Lal Khanna, Secretary of the Jharia Coalfield Bachao Samiti (JCBS), “besides the most of the people have yet received the shifting allowance of Rs 10,000. Moreover since last three months we are paying a sum of Rs 250 each month for water which is supposed to be free for us and we have no receipt of the same.”

Families living in Gwalapati, Lujpit, Rajput Bustee, Bokapahari and Modivita localities in Jharia are to have been shifted to Belgaria within 100 days in mid-October last year where Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) and Jharia Rehabilitation Development Authority (JRDA) has constructed 3,400 flats of 203 square feet each under a pilot project.

Under the Jharia rehabilitation plan, about 80,000 families are to be evacuated and rehabilitated. Instead of doing something against the fires, one of the biggest resettlement plans worldwide is to be carried out, Jharia Action Plan (JAP). Central and Jharkhand government has sanctioned more than Rs 9 crore for rehabilitation and dousing of the underground mine fire.

According to BCCL sources, more than 68,000 families will be shifted from the fire zone area of Jharia. According to sources, Rs.4,500 crore will be spent on rehabilitation and Rs.2,400 crore on dousing the underground fire to save billions of tonnes of quality coal for BCCL.

Four satellite townships are coming up to house displaced families, two in Baliapur circle and one each in Topchanchi and Baghmara. This apart, the BCCL is again carrying out a survey of families of employees living in the fire-ravaged areas. Coal India Limited Board has approved construction of 16,000 quarters.

CMD of BCCL T.K. Lahiri told that with the approval of the Rs 9,657-crore master plan by both the Centre and State governments and subsequent division of responsibilities between JRDA and BCCL, there remains little confusion.

“The rehabilitation work undertaken by JRDA is progressing at a smooth pace. While JRDA is responsible for rehabilitation of non-BCCL families, the coal company is taking care of its employees.” Lahiri said.

JRDA Superintending Engineer Narendra Kumar said, “Remaining people of most endangered areas, including Bokapahari, Kurkurtopa and PB area, would get their letters by of the year. Though 267 non-BCCL families have been given quarters in Belgaria, they refused to shift as there was no water and power supply. We have solved the problem now,”

However,Lahiri said shifting families of their employees would be carried out in phases. “The entire process of relocation of some 3,000 BCCL families will be completed in three to four years,” he said.

• this article has been published in the pioneer in August 2011

Life expectancy of miners below 40 - Jharia

As Jharia burns, the people who have chosen to make this place their home brave the fire and fumes to somehow make a living and feed themselves two square meals a day. Hardly any of the workers in the open cast mines wear any protective gear, no masks and no boots. Most end up with a film of soot covering their lungs and by the time pneumoconiosis is detected, it is too late to do anything.

Gayatri Devi, an illegal coal collector, is 40 and lives in a one-room house in one of Jharia's active fire zones called Bokapahadi. The floor of her house has a huge crack, fumes from which fill the house. "I have lived here for 40 years," Gayatri tells.

"Last year, the floor cracked and since then my house is on fire. When we walk barefoot our feet burn. At night, my children feel suffocated on the pungent fumes. Eight of us sleep in this room,” adds Gayatri Devi.

Muzaffar Hussain is 32 years old and works with BCCL, the state mining company that runs Jharia's mining fields. His house, which shelters a family of ten, is practically a gas chamber with noxious gas hissing from cracks in the floor. His wife has been suffering from continuous nausea and breathing problems, and half of Muzaffar's monthly salary goes into her treatment. Like many others who work for BCCL, he hasn't received the health card that assures subsidized treatment at the hospital.

Huge open cast and underground mines are threatening the health and homes of thousands. Villages or colliery slums like Bokapahadi, Kujama, Ghanudih, Baghdighi, Jairampur, are mining areas in and around Jharia where hundreds of families live above the fire. The land beneath their feet is hot and everywhere smoke and sulphurous gases escape from thousands of fissures and cracks.

Residents of the collieries are affected by air and water pollution borne diseases that leads to respiratory and abdominal problems. RP Gupta doctor of the BCCL run hospital at Ghanudih describes, “Villagers are suffering from a battery of lung diseases caused by air pollution. Many of them are not even aware of that they are sick. People have become used to nose bleeding or breathing trouble.”

Tata Steel Rural Development Society, working for residents of the coal belt for years has observed that residents of the coal belt live a short live due to lung disorders. A social worker associated with TSRDS stated, “Most of the diseased people are not treated because they themselves are not aware of the ailments. This has resulted into shortening of life span of the locals.”

BCCL managing director T K Lahiri says, “Compensation is offered to anyone who qualifies for it under the company's guidelines. We have been trying best for the past two decades to control these fires, but there is no permanent solution. The rehabilitation of the workers to new Jharia is in process. ”

• this article has been published in the pioneer in August 2011