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.

                                                                (Photo Courtesy)

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 22^nd 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…..”

                                                                  Ruins of the Church

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)