Documenting Coal Mining in Jharia, India, through Photography

By Steve Lemeshko

Children trapped in the landscape as coal pickers. Credit: David Alexander Elder, PDM 1.0 DEED.

In the article “Imaging ‘Slow Violence’ in the Jharia Coalfields of India: Disrupting Energy Modernity through Photography,” Meenakshi S. and Krupa Shah explore the slow violence of unscientific and largely illegal coal mining in India’s Jharia region in northern Jharkhand state, eastern India, which is representative of the whole country.

The history of coal mining is a history of environmental destruction, community displacement, and traditional social structure disruption. Originally a lush forest with tribal communities, Jharia is now one of the oldest and largest coalfields in India. It started operating in 1894 during the British Colonial Era and has continued through Indian Independence to this day. One of the distinctive features of this place is the underground fire that has been burning for more than a century. With beams of fire emanating from the underground, the lunar landscape resembles nothing less than Hell on Earth.

Because Jharia is far from metropolitan centers, away from the people and the media, and there is a lack of accountability, the slow violence perpetuates with little public awareness. Respiratory disorders and neurological damage are common, with marginalized communities affected disproportionally and illegal coal miners trapped in the poisoned landscape. Thus, it is necessary to effectively demonstrate the effects of this gradual and subtle form of violence.

Photography has the potential to disrupt the narrative of coal extraction. Photos expose the slow violence by documenting the ravaged landscape and, more importantly, the human aspect that is largely absent in the mass media. Images of destruction invite us to study the issue further and make us raise questions about this specific place and beyond. Why do people still live there? Where are the authorities? What enables these places to persist through space and time?

As the authors state, “[I]n the case of Jharia, both the image and the slowly disintegrating landscape align to create a new symbolic language that underscores the human and environmental cost of energy modernity.” Photographs build an alternative narrative around coal extraction—and energy discourse as a whole—because visualizing the effects helps make the system that benefits from concealing such activities responsible for the action. These images can become catalysts for eventual change, even if immediate environmental justice remains elusive.

Below, you can find additional photographs depicting the slow violence of coal mining in Jharia:

Coal mining in the hell-like Jharia. Credit: TripodStories- AB, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Members of the Jharia community in the dystopian lunar landscape. Credit: international accountability project, CC BY 2.0 DEED.

The inferno of Jharia at night. Credit: David Alexander Elder, PDM 1.0 DEED.

The full citation for the article is: S., Meenakshi & Krupa Shah, “Imaging ‘Slow Violence’ in the Jharia Coalfields of India: Disrupting Energy Modernity through Photography,” South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, vol. 46, no. 5, 27 July 2023, pp. 1084–1107, doi: 10.1080/00856401.2023.2225901.

For further reading on slow violence, see the following articles:

Historical Agreement Reached in the Snake River Dam Conversation / April 29, 2024

The Role of Sound in Recognizing the Slow Violence of Carbon Extraction / March 29, 2024

Using Islander Stories to Discuss Sea-Level Rise / May 25, 2023