Published on : 02 Oct 2025, 3:57 am

Jharia has been burning for over a century. Plumes of smoke billow from heaps of coal scattered across this coal belt in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad district, giving the eerie impression of mass funeral pyres smoldering on a lifeless land. But Sarju Bhuiyan, born into this inferno 50 years ago, knows how to dig coal from the scorched earth. In fact, it is the only skill he has mastered and is now passing on to his two children.

In the sweltering heat of June, when Down To Earth ( DTE ) visited the coal belt, Bhuiyan was preparing to enter the open-cast mine that adjoins his house, carrying nothing but a pickaxe and a handwoven basket. Suddenly, an ambulance with its siren blaring, sped through the haze towards a group of soot-covered men scurrying acro

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