Professional Documents
Culture Documents
by
S. R Michalski E. S. Custer, Jr. Ph.D. and P. L Munshi2
4UMIQQI. ~ 1971, the ~d~ GO~ind~try WN Mtiontied and Illuwat Coking Coal Limited was
formed. The new company inherited about 600 poorly operated collieries, many on fue. Efforts to
extk@shthe &have been partially successful. About sixty-f~e fkes continue to burn in the 450sq. km coalileld. This is the largest complex of above and underground coal fwes in the world. The
fires have spread and grown to affect coal production, the environment and the health, safety, and
well being of one million people living in the region. A 2l-month long, two-part study, funded by
the World Bank, began in 1994 and was completed in 1996. Part one was au analysis of the fwes
which included, their location, size, impact on the community, physical environment and coal
reserves and possible remediation measures and their cost. Part two included an environmental and
socio-economic survey of the coalfield and environs and the impact of implementing remediation
measures. The investigations included the use of satellite and airborne remote sensing platforms, a
Global Positioning System for surveying,dding, software for mine planning and development, a field
reconnaissance, laboratory testing, review of colliery records and data analysis. A counterpart
staff of Indian professionals worked with the expatriates to acquire the training, procedures and
methodologies required to continue the work. Technologies for extinguishing, containing and
preventing fhs and their cost were identiled. Recommendations were made to extinguish or contain
the frees.
Additional Key Words: coaL coal fre, mine frees, India
Uncontrolled coal fns reportedly began in the
Jharia CoaMeld (JCF) in 1916, about 26 years after the
start of mining (Munshi 1995). Most of the frees are
reportedly caused by spontaneous combustion resulting
tiom poor mining practice, the nature of the coal deposits
and the apparent susceptibility of the coal to self heating
(MUnshi 1995). Despite the efforts of independent
operators before nationalization of coal mines(197 1-73),
efforts
following
and
government
sanctioned
nationalization new f~es appear and many existing fwes
continue to expand (although a few fires have been
exdngukhed and others greatly reduced in size). The JCF
contains about one half of all the reported coal fires in
India (Saxena 1995). Of the approximately 65 fwes
reported to be active, many have coalesced into much
larger fires engulfing adjacent coal seams and collieries
resulting in a staggering loss and isolation of coal
reserves (Figure 1). The f~e effects, including ground
subsidence, have produced unprecedented havoc; loss of
life, property and productivity of the land surface and
disruption of the lives of people in the coaltield.
Introductio~
The Jharia CoaMeld lies in the State of Bihar m
northeast hdi~ about 260 km. northwest of Calcutta. The
arcuate coalfleld, measuring about 40 km. in length and
12 km. in widti occupies an area of nearly 450 sq. km.
of which Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) operates
a leasehold of about 258 sq. km. (57 percent of the
coslfield). Tata Iron and Steel Co. (TISCO) and the
Indian Iron and Steel Co. (IISCO) hold another 32 sq.
km., with industri~ forestj and agricultural areas comprising the remainder (Prasad 1989, Bharat 1991 and
Sinha 1989). Towns, villages, and settlements are
numerous throughout the coalileld.
211
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extinguishment,
fme abatement and control, fue
prevention and fire management. Such solutions were
considered within the context of available technologies,
including power and equipment that can be deployed in
the JCF.
Cause of Fires
The origin of most coal mine fwes in India is
reported to be the result of spontaneous combustion.
Although the coals of the JCF are not as susceptible to
spontaneous combustion as some other coals in India
(Banerjee 1985), irresponsible mining practice prior to
nationalization resulted in enhancing self heating of the
coal. Large volumes of fragmented coal in thick seams,
crushed pillars, poor ventilation and surface subsidence
fractures resulted in conditions ideal for spontaneous
combustion to occur. A study conducted by the Central
Mine Planning and Design Institute Limited (CMPDIL)
of nearly one hundred fue sites in India resulted in
identifying spontaneous heating as the cause of about
67 percent of the fues. About 33 percent were
attributable to some form of neglect, accident or design
(Malhotra 1989).
213
....
Rewew of F.xistimzDat a
Colliery mining reports cover a range of topics
including colliery locatiom access, laud use, and a history
of mine operation. Geology is presented with emphasis
on exploratio~ coal seam datq in situ coal quality, and
marketability of the coal. Colliery reports also include
reserve
estimates,
production targets, ruining
development strategies, mine scheduling, mining methods
and the projected remaining life of the mine. The location
of fwe and its potential impact on mine planning and fwe
abatement efforts were described when applicable.
MaDD~
Mining in the JCF left a legacy of various coordinate systems for exploration and mining. Each
exploration drilling campaign had a different origin and
214
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OF
BOUNOARY
JHARIA
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TIR IMAGERY(19139-91)
Izzzzl
~lp
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tNiN
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SCALE
SERIES
SHEET BOUNDARIES
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246
SATELLITEOATA
(1965-1995)
TIR IMAGERY(1995)
Table 1
Jharia Coal Field Fire Area (1985-1995)
YEAR
I FlREAREA2 (S@un)
Note:
1991
15.92
1993
8.79
1994
8.48
1995
8.92
215
216
Te~es
ti
Gass~
&muM3!
Fire Statistics
Statistics from the present study attest to the
considerable number and extent of fxes on BCCL
properties. (Firein the present context refers to burning
conditions that occupy a portion of a colliery site and
involve one or more coal seams, overburden strata ador
overburden debris, The majority of colliery sites have
more than one fwe, and the majority of fwes involve more
than one coal seam.)
~echnoloev TranSfq
continuity following the close of the
To maintam
current investigation, a permanent fire management and
investigation ofilce consisting of BCCL and CMPDIL
218
Areal J?xtentat
Fire Status
The fne status is based on the observed
conditions at each colliery during the period of active
investigation and temperature monitoring.
Unzencv of Imulementatioq
Emergency conditions at thirteen sites warrant
immediate action due to a threatened passenger railway
219
F%ubbad
(Block III) -- Threat to stability of
Adra-Gomoh passenger railway line.
Sen&a Bansjora --
Bansdeopur --
Kustore (SE)
--
roadway.
Ena -- Threatto
East Bhuggatdih --
Rajapur -- Threatto
Kujama -- Threatto
area.
b
Lodna -- Threatto
Bagdid
Bag@
2.
220
8<
9.
5.
6.
7.
221
2.
3.
4.
d)
Concentrating fwe-fighting activities at
existing fues to locations where impacts on
villages and infrastructure are greatest.
e) Reclaiming opencast pits in a timely and
systematicmanner so as to reduce air circulation
to underground
mine workings,
with
consideration being given to the use of reservoir
sediments for blanketing and sealing.
Fire conditions change rapidly with time. Sitespeciilc strategies for fre control and
extinguishment should be reevaluated and
refined before they are implemented to account
for possible changed conditions and new
information.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Underground
coal gasflcation may offer a
means to exploit energy resources from certain
blocked reserves despite the presence of existing
mine fwes.
9.
Literature Cited
222
Data- Asian-Pac&
7(1):59-73.
NRSA. 1996. Coal Mine Fire Mapping Using Aerial PreDawn Thermal IR Data in Jharia Coalileld,
Dhanbad District, Bihar. Geosciences Group,
National Remote Sensing Agency, Dept. of
Space, Govt. of Indi4 Hyderabad, May 1996.
Bandyopadhyay and
Mukherjee, T. K.,
T. K.
S. K. Pande. 1991. Detection and Delineation of
Depth of Subsurface Coal Mine Fires Based on
an Airborne Multi spectral Scanner Survey in a
India
Part
of the
Jharia
Cosltleld.
Photogrammetric Enginee@g and Remote
Sensing. 57(9): p.1203-1207, Sept. 1991.
Munu
S-P.
223