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  ?Jharia
Jharkhand • India
Map indicating the location of Jharia
Location of Jharia
 Jharia 
Coordinates: 22°18′N 86°42′E / 22.3, 86.7
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
Area
Elevation

• 77 m (253 ft)
District(s) Dhanbad
Population 81,979 (2001)
[1]

Coordinates: 22°18′N 86°42′E / 22.3, 86.7 Jharia city, is a notified area and one of eight development blocks [1] in Dhanbad district in Jharkhand state of India. Jharkhand ( Hindi: झारखंड Bengali: ঝাড়খণ্ডdʒʰaːɽkʰəɳɖ is a state in eastern India. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. Indian Standard Time ( IST) is the time observed throughout India and Sri Lanka, with a Time offset of UTC+530. UTC+530 is the Timezone for Indian Standard Time Sri Lanka Time The geography of India is diverse with landscape ranging from snow-capped mountain ranges to deserts plains rainforests hills and plateaus The elevation of a Geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point often the mean sea level. A district is an administrative division of an Indian state or territory. Dhanbad district is one of the twenty-four districts of Jharkhand state, India, and Dhanbad is the administrative headquarters of this district In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. In Urban planning, a notified area is any land area earmarked by legal provision for future development A tehsil ( Urdu: تحصیل) (or tahsil, tahasil, taluka, taluk, taluq, mandal) is an Administrative division Dhanbad district is one of the twenty-four districts of Jharkhand state, India, and Dhanbad is the administrative headquarters of this district Jharkhand ( Hindi: झारखंड Bengali: ঝাড়খণ্ডdʒʰaːɽkʰəɳɖ is a state in eastern India. India is a union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country

Contents

Geography

Jharia is located at 22.3° N 86.7° E [2] or 23.75° N 86.40° E [3]. It has an average elevation of 77 metres (252 feet). The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit

Demographics

As of 2001 India census,[4] Jharia had a population of 81,979. Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. A census is the procedure of acquiring information about every member of a given population Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Jharia has an average literacy rate of 68%, higher than the national average of 59. 5%: male literacy is 74%, and female literacy is 60%. In Jharia, 14% of the population is under 6 years of age.

City

Jharia is the fifteen largest town, in the state of Jharkhand [5] and is a major coalfield in the state of Jharkhand, eastern India. Jharkhand ( Hindi: झारखंड Bengali: ঝাড়খণ্ডdʒʰaːɽkʰəɳɖ is a state in eastern India. Jharkhand ( Hindi: झारखंड Bengali: ঝাড়খণ্ডdʒʰaːɽkʰəɳɖ is a state in eastern India. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country

The coalfield lies in the Damodar River Valley, and covers about 110 square miles (280 square km), and produces bituminous coal suitable for coke. Damodar River (দামোদর নদ originates near Chandwa village Palamau district on the Chota Nagpur Plateau in the Jharkhand state in Most of India's coal comes from Jharia. Jaria coal mines are India's most important storehouse [6] of prime coke coal used in blast furnaces, it consists of 23 large underground and nine large open cast mines[7]. Coke is a solid Carbonaceous material derived from Destructive distillation of low-ash low-sulfur Bituminous coal.

The mining activities in these coalfields started in 1894 and had really intensified in 1925. The mines were nationalized in 1971, and due to easy availability of coal, many steel plants are set up in close proximity to Jharia. Steel is an Alloy consisting mostly of Iron, with a Carbon content between 0 Many steel companies such as Tata Steel, IISCO, SAIL have taken coal field on lease in Jharia. Tata Steel, formerly known as TISCO (Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited) is the world's 5th largest and India's largest steel company with an annual crude steel IISCO Steel Plant of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL is located at Burnpur, near Asansol.

Jharia Coalmine fire

Jharia is also famous for a coal field fire that has burned underground for nearly a century. A coal seam fire or mine fire is the underground Smouldering of a Coal deposit often a Coal mine. The history of coal-mine fire in the Jharia coal field can be traced back to 1916 when the first fire was detected [7]. In 1972, more than 70 mine fires are reported from this region.

More than 400 thousands people who reside in Jharia are sitting atop subsidence volcano, and according to Brinda Karat, "Jharia township is on the brink of an ecological and human disaster. Plate tectonics and hotspots Divergent plate boundaries At the Brinda Karat (born October 17, 1947) is a communist politician from India, elected to the Rajya Sabha as a Communist Party of India " [8], and the government has been criticized for its lackadaisical attitude [9] towards the safety of the people of Jharia, who live under constant danger [10] and amidst heavy fumes emitted by the raging fires [11], which leads to severe health problems like breathing disorders and skin diseases, amongst the local population [12].

Jharia shifting

According to the state government, the town of Jharia is to be shifted due to the uncontrollable coal mine fires, which have found to be undousable, leading to loss of property as well as lives in the city.

Further more, Coal worth Rs. Rs 60,000 crore is lying unutilised and the state government feels the shifting will help utilizing the resource, which is not being mined due to fear of displacement [7].

Further Reading

References

  1. ^ Development Blocks in Dhanbad district
  2. ^ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Jharia2
  3. ^ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Jharia
  4. ^ Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns. (Provisional). Census Commission of India. Retrieved on 2007-09-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 36 BC - In the Battle of Naulochus, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Admiral of Octavian, defeats Sextus Pompeius
  5. ^ Jharkhand cities and town, world-gazetteer.com
  6. ^ The Jharia coal field fire
  7. ^ a b c Jharia to be shifted, The Times of India, 31 Aug 2006
  8. ^ Hindustan Times, December 15, 2007
  9. ^ The Jharia mine fire control technical assistance project: an analysis, April 2004
  10. ^ "Inside Coal Mine Fires", a documentary, 2005
  11. ^ ESTIMATION OF GAS EMISSIONS FROM SHALLOW SUBSURFACE COAL FIRES IN JHARIA COALFIELD
  12. ^ In the line of fire, indiatogether.org

External Links

The Jharia coal field fire

The Jharia coalfield in Bihar is an exclusive storehouse of prime coke coal in the country, consisting of 23 large underground and nine large open cast mines. The mining activities in these coalfields started in 1894 and had really intensified in 1925. The history of coal-mine fire in Jharia coalfield can be traced back to 1916 when the first fire was detected. At present, more than 70 mine fires are reported from this region.

Coal, a non-renewable source of energy, is found in several parts of the world. The coal layers are mined by two methods: open cast mining and underground mining. Coal is formed from organic matter with a high carbon content, which when exposed to certain conditions (temperature, moisture, oxygen etc. ) tends to ignite/ burn spontaneously at rather low temperatures. This may occur naturally or the combustion process may be triggered by other causes.

However, once a coal seam catches fire, and efforts to stop it an early stage fail, it may continue to burn for tens to hundreds of years, depending primarily on the availability of coal and oxygen. Coal fires have occurred in nearly all parts of the world like India, the US, Indonesia, South Africa, Australia, China, Germany and many other countries. However, the nature and magnitude of the problem differs from country to country. In India, the fire in the Jharia coalfield has mainly been due to unscientific mining and extraction of coal in the past.

Fires may occur in coal layers that are exposed to the surface of the earth or areas close to it. These are visible to the naked eye. Also, fires erupt in the underground seams, which have large cracks that serve as channels for oxygen to the burning coal. The main cause of natural coal fires are lightening, forest fires, bush fires, etc. Among human causes are accidents, negligent acts, domestic fires, lighting fires in abandoned underground mines for heating or distilling alcohol etc. Besides, burning away of an important energy resource, it creates problems for exploitation of coal, poses danger to humankind, raises the temperature of the area, and when present underground, can cause land to subside.

The pollution caused by these fires affects air, water, and land. Smoke, from these fires contains poisonous gases such as oxides and dioxides of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur, which along with particulate matter are the causes of several lung and skin diseases. High levels of suspended particulate matter increase respiratory diseases such as chronic bronchitis and asthma, while the gases contribute to global warming besides causing health hazards to the exposed population. Methane emission from coal mining depends on the mining methods, depth of coal mining, coal quality and entrapped gas content in the coal seams. These fires also pollute water by contaminating it and increasing its acidity, which is due to a certain percentage of sulphur that is present in coal. These fires lead to degradation of land and does not allow any vegetation to grow in the area.

The measures for controlling coal mine fires, in the case of Jharia coalfields, include bull dozing, leveling and covering with soil to prevent the entry of oxygen and to stabilize the land for vegetation. Fire fighting in this area requires relocation of a large population, which poses to be a bigger problem than the actual fire fighting operations.


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