Ruined Cities
(Photo Courtesy)
“Sir…we are in hundred percent danger zone. We don’t
know when we are going to collapse into the underground fire….”
Fear was evident in Chaudhariji’s words. He was the
manager of our Jharia branch. I met Chaudhariji often for official matters and
he used to talk about his town Jharia. Later on, I learnt a lot about Jharia’s
history from various published articles.
Jharia is a small town near Dhanbad. It has got the
most productive coal mines in India. Chaudhariji’s fear about Jharia was not
unfounded. Geological studies have revealed that there is raging fire beneath
the Jharia area in 42 collieries out of 133. The first fire was detected in
1916 and the underground fire has been continuing for the past hundred years. The
first mine to collapse was the Khas Jharia mines owned by Seth Khora Ramji who
was a pioneer in coal mining in India. He lost his house and bungalow in the
subsidence. All efforts to stop the fire failed and the Government had declared
the area highly dangerous to live in. Over the years there have been many
reports of sudden subsidence and loss of human lives. Government has since been
trying to relocate the town, the process of which is still going on.
I had visited some of these places for official
purposes. Some parts of the old Jharia town wore a haunted look with its
deserted streets; streets which, once upon a time, might have buzzed with
activity. Streets which were busy with people, rickshaws, motor vehicles,
hawkers, vegetable carts, cows, dogs, pigs...All vanished now…with abandoned
houses and dismantled shops on either side. And literally fire in the belly.
Waiting to be subsided. Still hundreds of families live in villages with
underground fires, fully aware of the danger, breathing the highly polluted
air, drinking the contaminated dirty water.
Because they have no income other than the income from coal mines – some
legal; some illegal.
During the darkness of night, glow of the raging fire sneaks out through the crevices on earth. Hazardous gases like carbon monoxide and Sulphur dioxide come out with smoke and fumes causing respiratory and skin problems for people. All these disasters are manmade. Due to the unscientific mining and exploiting of nature. And now, one of the five elements of universe, fire, was punishing humans for their sins……
I was reminded of this ruined town when I visited
Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi recently as Dhanushkodi has another story of
disaster to tell. Mythology has it that Lord Rama instructed Lord Hanuman to
start the construction of the bridge to Lanka from here. Dhanushkodi is now connected
by road from Rameswaram. This road is very unique as, on either side of its
narrow strip, two great oceans are situated – Indian Ocean on the right side
and Bay of Bengal on the left. Riding through this road, sandwiched between the
oceans, is a nice experience.
Prior to year 1964, Dhanushkodi was an important city
with train service from Rameswaram. The purpose of the train service was to
take passengers and goods to the farthest tip of India for crossing over to Sri
Lanka (Ceylon) in ship or boat. The nearest point on Sri Lankan coast Talaimannar
is just twenty odd kilometers away.
On December 22nd night of 1964, a cyclonic
storm hit Dhanushkodi with wind speed more than 170 mph. Tsunamic waves more
than seven meters high engulfed the city washing away everything under it.
Including the passenger train with about 200 passengers. Thus the city, once a
commercial center, with a railway station, customs office, post office,
hospitals, education institutions, church etc. was totally ruined. Since the
entire city was marooned, it was declared as a ‘Ghost Town’. However in
December 2004, the sea receded from the coastline by about 500
meters exposing the submerged parts. Today the ruins of the church, post office
and railway station remain as a grim reminder of the catastrophe. After 5
o’clock in the evening, tourists are not allowed to the area. Only about 50
original inhabitant fishermen families remain there. “Once darkness fall,” a
local fisherman told me, “the entire area attains a haunted atmosphere. The
sound of sea waves turn into sad cries of innocent souls seeking help…..”
As I walked through the sandy ground between the ruins of this once prominent commercial centre, I could visualize the cyclonic night of pitch-darkness, except, perhaps, the faint light of the Milky Way above; I could hear the hissing sound of the speedy night wind; I could feel the icy pricking sensation of rain and spray; I could feel the roaring tsunami waves towering far above my head; I could feel the helplessness, the futility of resistance while it lifted and swallowed everything as it retreated, demonstrating the incredible power of two other elements constituting the universe – wind and water.
(Historical references: courtesy Wikipedia)
