The Jharia coalfield in Jharkhand is the biggest storehouse of coking
coal in the India, consisting of 23 large underground and nine large
open cast mines. The mining activities in these coalfields started in
1894 and had really intensified in 1925. The history of coal-mine fire
in Jharia coalfield can be traced back to 1916 when the first fire was
detected. At present, more than 80 mine fires are reported from Jharia
region. 
A laborer chips away at a seam of coal as she scavenges
at an open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian
state of Jharkhand.
A young laborer chips away at a seam of coal as he scavenges at an
open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari in the
eastern Indian state of Jharkhand ..
A laborer chips away at a seam of coal as he scavenges at an open-cast
mine in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of
Jharkhand ..
A coal scavenger carries a block of coal illegally taken from an
open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state
of Jharkhand ..
Laborers carry large baskets of coal as they illegally scavenged from
an open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian
state of Jharkhand ..
Laborers carry baskets of coal illegally taken from an open-cast mine
in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand ..
People carry baskets of coal scavenged illegally at an open-cast mine
in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand
..
Youths fly a kite as coal fires from scavenged coal burn near an
open-cast mine in the Jharia District of the eastern Indian state of
Jharkhand .
A girl dances near plumes of smoke from fires of coal scavenged by her
family in the New Colony village in Jharkand, India .
Children stand near a Hindu temple in the New Colony village where a
community of coal scavengers lives and works in the eastern Indian state
of Jharkhand.
A person stands next to small piles of coal burning after scavenging
from an open-cast mine in the Jharia district of Jharkand, India
Laborers stand next to small piles of coal burning after scavenging it
from an open-cast mine in the Jharia district of the eastern Indian
state of Jharkhand
Stray dogs stand on the parched and burnt earth where underground coal
fires are burning in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian
state of Jharkhand. ..
Smoke from an underground coal fire rises from the ground near an
open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari, where a community of coal
scavengers live and work in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand
A man and child stay warm next to small piles of burning coal illegally
scavenged near an open-cast mine in the Jharia district of the eastern
Indian state of Jharkhand
Young coal scavengers stand together next to a burning pile of coal in
Jharia in Jharkand, India
Coal scavengers warm themselves by a pile of burning coal near an
open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state
of Jharkhand where a community of coal scavengers live
and work.
