Fires have been raging for a century in the coal mines of the Indian state of Jharkhand, where the young Savitri Mahto risks her life, like 100,000 other people, to collect coal.
“The fires have charred the earth,” the 22-year-old, who illegally collects coal amid the flames, told AFP near a large commercial open-pit mine. “We live in fear every day,” she adds.
Underground fires, caused according to scientists by a mining accident in 1916, dig chasms in the ground which collapse and engulf everything, people and homes alike.
“It’s dangerous to live here,” says Savitri Mahto, who dreams of becoming a nurse. Homes can collapse at any time. »
Fossil fuel collectors and activists report that hundreds of people have died over the decades.
“Many accidents have already happened and continue to happen, because the ground is collapsing”, explains Savitri Mahto to AFP, busy around a pile of coal which produces coke, a compact fuel used in particular for cooking and to power brick kilns.
Vegetable vendor Arjun Kumar, 32, who lost his home in a cave-in, fears his ‘life will become hell’ if he is not rehoused and ‘forced to live on the streets like a beggar “.
Coal consumption in India, the world’s most populous country and the world’s fifth largest economy, has doubled over the past decade, powering almost 70% of the country’s electricity grid.
Half of India’s greenhouse gas emissions come from burning coal. Only China consumes more.
According to experts, the pockets of fire that occur in surface mines, spread over nearly 300 km2calcine millions of tons of coal, producing huge amounts of CO2.
Thick gray smoke floats above the fires and envelops these dark and chaotic terrains, creating scenes with an apocalypse atmosphere.
To live and to die
“We have a responsibility to society in terms of the environment,” recognizes Samiran Dutta, director of the commercial operator of the mines, Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL), a subsidiary of the state-owned Coal India.
According to Mr. Dutta, BCCL cannot be held responsible for the safety of people who illegally enter the mines. On the other hand, he points out that the company “procured various gadgets”, such as foggers, in the hope of reducing air pollution.
But efforts to put out the fires, including using liquid nitrogen and digging firebreaks, remain in vain.
Savitri Mahto adjusts the scarf to cover her soot-black face. “The air is very polluted,” she says, referring to the toxic gases that are burning her eyes and lungs.
The miners work in appalling conditions, but “coal is vital in Jharkhand”, argues AK Jha, a local union leader, estimating that the mines could still produce coal for the steel industry for 200 years. According to him, “coal will never end”.
Electricity demand continues to rise in India, the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, behind China and the United States, with a growing middle class that needs to equip itself in particular with air conditioners and refrigerators .
To date, warming of just one degree Celsius has made extreme weather more destructive and deadly.
India, with 1.4 billion people, points out that its per capita emissions are lower than the global average, but it has still committed to zero carbon emissions by 2070.
State authorities began evacuating mine residents in 2008, but many feel deprived of their livelihoods.
Sushila Devi, whose 15-year-old daughter lost her life in a cave-in four years ago while collecting coal, says she has no choice but to stay.
“I’m still afraid of suffering the same fate, but I’m helpless,” admits this woman who earns only six dollars a day. “If I don’t work, what will I eat? »
Without other options, illegal coal mining will continue, Jha said. “The key issue is livelihoods,” he says. If the government is unable [de fournir des emplois], people will have to make do with what nature gives them. »