Philip Blenkinsop | India | The Fires Within: The burning coalfields of Jharia, India PORTFOLIO
Under Jharia’s crust, lies one of the largest coal deposits in India. But for the people who live above an inferno, Jharia is a condemned place. For almost a century, fires have burned uncontrolled in the mines beneath Jharia, polluting the air with poisonous fumes and splitting the ground with dangerous fissures.
For the impoverished residents of Jharia, stealing coal to sell and picking through collapsed buildings for salvageable material is a dangerous way of life. And now, with the earth literally collapsing beneath their feet, they face an ecological disaster.
[...] Jon Lowenstein’s “In the Oil Sands,” Philip Blenkinsop’s “The Fires Within: The Burning Coalfields of Jharia, India,” Francesco Zizola’s “A Paradise in Peril,” Yuri Kozyrev’s [...]