Dark hunger...a documentary

When hunger strikes the stomach and it itches, when you have eaten nothing for days. . . . then you have to risk your life for a single bread.

This is a story of several silent coal miners who works in the mines for their daily living risking their lives , coming to the mines in the early hours not knowing whether they would be able to return safely.

Illegal coal mining has become the most dangerous and brutal business in the country.

People battles brutal heat, toxic fumes and even death while working in the coal mines. Even teenagers are a part of this business. But what makes them do such a job at such fiery place?

Pinki Kumari, came to Jharia with her parents and brother almost 10 years ago. She was very little then. Her father was a miner prior worked in the brick quary and then moved to Jharia to work in coal mines. Their family used to run with the day in and day out pay outs that he used to get at the end of the day , however the amount was not sufficient and continued to leave them starving.

Then the coal collectors gave him this idea

to sneak in to dodge the police and scavage coals. The best time to avoid getting caught was 4:00AM to 10:00 AM in the morning.

He used to go to the mines early in the morning followed by his son, who was 12 then. This created the risk of getting caught by the police too, however sometimes they had to leave their basket and run at other times they would loose all the coals they collected, while they were followed by police. They had to work very hard to cut the larger chunks of coal. The official mines are still controlled by governmental departments who often uses dynamite to dig out coal which is even more risky , it causes land slides, burning out of poisonous gas and the raw coal picks up fire quick enough and spread, any one who would get caught into the land slide went down into the gorge forever.

It so happened while risking his life Pinki's father died in such land slide few years ago.

Then Pinki was 7, her mother went with her son for the same process as she had to feed her family. They collected coals and travelled through the steep slopes and reach their village which is almost 5 kms away, then they bake or burn the coal to make them usable as fuel and there after sell them in the near by market or dhabas or restaurants.

Life is full of difficulties and hassles but the lives of such coal collector continues in the black holes of coal scavenging.

Pinki has grown up but with difficulties, education for these children are quite difficult, they hardly get to live their livelihood let alone education.

Children aged 12 onwards gets indulged in this job. They pick up their basket early morning walk a distance of over 5 kms through the steep slopes and gorges to enter the mines. Then their difficult job to crush and dig out the coal starts. This is a very strenuous task but when the stomach needs food and the family looks to you with their eyes full of starvation no job seems hard. The crushing of the large chunks injures them. Pinki had been accompanying her mother and brother, she had been hurt several times in the hands and legs, they donot have any safety equipments, their hands burns of the small pebbles of hot coals crushing against each other. The destiny lines on their hands seems to have rubbed off exposing the black spots and wounds on their hands due to pieces of coals piercing them. They have no destiny. . . .

They have to carry the heavy loads of coal on their heads and travel the same distance back through the steep path which happens to be so difficult while carrying the coals on the head.

But the risks does not ends here, the same reason which Pinki and her family gets the food from also makes them sick.

The deposits of coal contaminates the near by ponds and rivers. They have to fetch water from distant places from well. The dangerous smoke that comes out while baking the coal contaminates air, leading to asthma, respiratory diseases etc.

The underground coal had been burning since hundred years.

Experts says coal catches fire on its own when exposed to oxygen, highly inflammable gases like methane covers the entire area and seeps inside the house.

The area has been hollowed from inside. This could even lead to land slide and diminishing of the entire area along with the houses, but people like Pinki and her family has no where to go unless they gets in to such situations. Pinki has to do these jobs for winning bread for herself and family but she doesn't like this job.

She has dreams . . . . an NGO has enrolled the children of the coal collectors in a small school and institution, where they educate the kids and also teaches other curriculum to teenagers as stitching, pottery, beautician course so that atleast these children can earn a better living through non risky method.

Though many countries has stopped the consumption of coal, our country still consumes the same and is possibly one of the largest consumers.

The coalfield areas are getting slided down due to burning coals. The fire had been emitting since years and had almost devoured most of the places.

The corporation has tried relocating the families and people from nearby to other places. There are families like Pinki who are reluctant to move just because they donot want to leave the place they are earning from.

The corporation is trying their best.

The entire process is too slow. Until then families like Pinki's will still continue to be in such risky zones.

But dreams of such Pinkies will linger on , may be some day or the other she and her family will leave this coal field and earn a better living through other modes and she and her family would not have to face such risks. . . . .