Threatened by fire and displacement, people of Jharia dig in their heels

Braving the fear of land subsidence, heat and fire, the raiyats of Jharia still continue to live in the danger zone, refusing to be rehabilitated by the government.

Jharia is sitting atop a veritable tinderbox; fires have erupted in Jharkhand’s underground coalfields for a century. Now, more than 32,000 legal title holders of land and one lakh people under non-title holder category have been identified as living in the Fire Zone and the threat of land subsidence looms large over them. But they have refused to move and the largest rehabilitation plan in the country for Jharia township has come a cropper. The government has cut no ice and failed to win the trust of the raiyats who have resided here for generations. Braving the fear of land subsidence, heat and fire, the raiyats still continue to live in the danger zone despite all odds against them. They say that they are caught between the devil and the deep sea; if they relocate themselves without a lucrative compensation and rehabilitation package, it would spell doom for them. Choosing to remain in the Fire Zone also means living under the constant fear that a tragedy might wipe them out any day.