What drives miners to death traps?

September 6, 2006: Bhatdih mine in Jharkhand's Jharia coalfields: Around 1940 hours IST, an underground methane explosion killed 54 of the 58 miners at work. The dead were charred beyond recognition and were identified only by their helmet numbers. One tonne wagons were thrown off their tracks and the accumulated gas cracked the surface days later.

One can still see the crack that the gas created. There was a four-feet high flame, which means that poisonous gases were being emitted from the crack.

With such devastation, one would think twice before becoming a miner. But for most mining is just another job - even if its dangerous and has killed a family member.

Twenty-four-year-old Santosh Rajwar died in the fateful explosion at Bhatdih, leaving behind his teenage wife and a child.

Says Santosh's wife, Laxmi, "If I had known how dangerous the mines are, I would not have let him go."

But Santosh had few options. A miner's job came his way as inheritance after his father's death.

Kishori Lal has the same story. He was drawn into the mines after the death of his father-in-law.

He is just one of the many who have inherited their paltry, Rs 5,000 a month job in the mines. For mining companies it's a matter of policy. For the workers it's a vicious cycle - a kind of caste heritage where the job becomes injected into the bloodstream.

Says a miner at Bastacola Mines, Kanhaiya Lal" My father died while working in a mine. I got this job after him."

Adds another miner Adim Mathur, "My father became unfit for the job so I got it."

As one goes down the pit of the Bastacola mine, the light completely fades away. Work in this mine begins with a prayer.

450 feet below the surface, coal is being dug out and there is the constant danger of gas explosions. The roof of the mine has been secured again and again after repeated blasts.

There is also leaking water that can flood the pit and drown the miners, but despite these dangers, even simple safety measures are ignored.

Craters created after taking the coal out are not filled with sand, allowing methane build up - and no one here has gas masks.

Around 40-50 miners work here every day in every shift, producing coal which is in turn used to produce steel, cement and energy. But they do so at a great risk to their personal lives and it's an agreed fact that even though the risk in mining has been minimised, it can never be completely eliminated.

Why then do people like Kishori, work here at these depths?

Says a miner, Kishori, "I had to give up studies after class three. The condition at home was very bad."

Adds another miner Deepak Ram "I do this work because I have a mother and a sister to take care of."

Kishori's mine at Batacola is perhaps one of the safest, but for him its the same path that his generation before him travelled. The saga continues - unbroken even by death.

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)

#Jharkhand #Bhatdih mines #miners #death