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Journalism of Courage
They came to Dhanbad from across the state and neighbouring Bihar, like actors converge on Bollywood, in search of food to eat, a roof over their heads, a life to live. They found it all, in exchange of long hours spent hundreds of feet underground, in Jharkhand8217;s deep mines and open-cast seams. Villages back home were replaced by convenient settlements that, over time, were welded into organic hamlets. Instead of paddy, they produced coal.
Death was a part of life. 8220;I remember eight of our colleagues dying in a mishap,8221; says Suresh Kumar Singh of Purana Dhaura. 8220;But never have we lost so many in a single accident.8221;
Fifty mineworkers lost their lives to methane fumes on the night of September 6 at the Bhatdih colliery in Nagda, western Jharia. Grief still shrouds the villages, along with the fine black grains permanently suspended in the air they breathe.
Mud houses across Purana Dhaura, Bhatdih colony, Bhatdih bustee, Nagda bustee, Kumhardih, Murlidih, Chandankyari, Jagda, Barora, Madhuban and Bhurangia are distinguished only by the tile or thatch they use as roof. Death unifies them further. Among the dead are adivasis, Yadavs, Muslims. But the mourning transcends these barriers: Ultimately, they are all colliery workers; the mishap could have touched any home.
One of every two dead was below 40. Bajrang Beldar was just 29, employed as a miner-loader for two years, married to Munni for a year. His wife is still in denial, unable to come to terms with the loss of what could have been and a husband she was just getting to know.
The family in the next lane is in deeper trouble. Usman Modi, 30, left behind two children. Pushpa, his wife, finds it easier to soothe her six-month old daughter than to explain to her three-year old why Bapu will not ever return.
Barely five km from the accident site lives Bideshi Mahato8217;s family. Mahato was a pump operator, succeeding to his father8217;s job. Unlike many others in the locality, Mahato was determined the job would not pass to a third generation. His son Santosh is in Std XI at the Bokaro Ispat Senior Secondary School, a CBSE-affiliated institution, 25 km away from home. Will he appear for his Std XII exams and escape to the life his father visualised?
Tradition says his chances are slim. 8220;If not the coalmines, there are two options for our people,8221; says Md Ibrar. 8220;They can either work as labour rickshaw-pullers or mazdoors in the nearest town or migrate to Kolkata, Mumbai or Delhi.8221;
The September 6 accident drew dozens of politicians to the region, including Union Coal Minister Shibu Soren and Jharkhand8217;s then chief minister Arjun Munda. Each affected family was promised sums of money, upto Rs 10 lakh.
The cash is yet to come, but the assurance is already creating divides within families. 8220;Parents or relatives of the deceased are afraid that the bahus may return to their parents with the money. Some people on the girls8217; side, too, are eyeing the money. In this tussle, women may suffer most,8221; says Manoj, a local resident.
With Munda himself shoved out of power and the media bumping Dhanbad off the lead news, life at Purana Dhaura is retreating to routine. Till another catastrophe.
