Toxic Coal Mines in India

JHARIA, JHARKAND, INDIA - 2014/10/24: A woman is working in the cloud of toxic smoke that comes out of the ground, methane and other toxic gases spew out from the open wounds in the Earth's crust near a coal mine in Jharia. Jharia in India's eastern Jharkand state is literally in flames. This is due to the open cast coal mining that takes place in the area. For more than 90 years, the Jharian coal mines have been alight with coal mining villages of around seven hundred thousand people settling in. Most of the mining is done with open cast as the price to mine is relatively lower to produce the profits. However, open cast mining does have its disadvantages including the release of toxic chemicals into our atmosphere. Everywhere you look, there will be coal to mine. And so villagers in Jharia often go out with their own shovels to mine whatever coal there is in the ground to support their families after selling the coal at the market center. The open pits of coal on the other hand, often catch fire due to careless cigarette bud tipping or due to lightning strikes in the area and will burn for years to come; spewing toxic and hazardous chemicals into the Earth's atmosphere. About 1.4 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide gets pumped into the atmosphere and could even be considered as the 4th most polluting area of India. Life however, is something that most will fight for, and if destroying the environment means feeding their families; workers will continue to run outside with their shovels and dig up all the coal they can find to survive. (Photo by Jonas Gratzer/LightRocket via Getty Images)