DEEP DOWN THE EARTH

I never dreamt I would see the earth’s crust in such detail one day. Guess what, I visited an underground mine ( and decided to write about it one year later, but better late than never!).

The Chinakuri mines, under Sodepur Area of Eastern Coalfields Ltd, West Bengal; isn't just an underground mine. It’s the deepest underground coal mine in India, and is 650-710m(depth varies at different points) below the surface of the earth. It’s been a year now, but I vividly remember my visit deep down the earth.  A daily routine for umpteen number of coal mine workers, but life's most adventurous event for me!

Women are prohibited from working in underground mines but are allowed for visits. Thank God!

I was with two of my colleagues and we sought special permission from office and set forth to the mine area in a rickety ambassador. India's national vehicle meandered through the dusty countryside bumping into gutters and screeching to halt whenever a calf or lamb or dog or pig or.. omg lets keep it simple....any 'creature' interrrupted our path !

The day was sunny and bright and I looked outside hoping to enjoy the weather. We headed for the mine as a team of six, three girls including me, a mining engineer, a supervisor and a senior officer from Personnel Dept.

From a distance I could see the “huge” ventilation pipes emerging from the earth, high up into the sky. They must’ve been the height of a three storeyed building. We walked into the office. It was the worst of its kind. Some shabbily written notices in Bengali were put up in the notice board outside. They hardly knew what technology is. An old typewriter , telephone with the ring dial(the one we last saw in early 90’s) covered with coal dust, the round stones transformed into paper weights, the damaged chairs and tables likely to be that of pre-independence era…a total ‘booth bangla’!

The officers were cordial and happy that we showed interest to visit the mine. We were briefed about the mine and mine conditions. We helped ourselves with the miner’s cap, cap lamp, walking stick etc. The heavy battery powering the cap lamp  was to be hung around the waist and dangled behind like a rectangular tail. Walking around with these apparatus on, I felt like an ox ready to plough the Bengal fields. Nevertheless, I was excited! For its my first mine visit.

It was dangerous. Bengal had just shook off a mild earthquake (remember the earthquake in 2011 with epicentre in Sikkim? ) and floods were posing another threat to miners. The security measures were beefed up and I was all the more enthusiastic, feeling like a Discovery channel expert on TV, braving all odds sort of ! :P

The cage was ready. It’s the opposite of a lift. It takes you down the surface. It looked crude and dirty. I took a long deep breath, said bye bye to the blue sky and stepped in. When of us were inside, a bell rang. The cage jolted and slowly began to immerse itself inside. In the daylight I could make out earth cut out on all sides like that in a well. But before I could observe anything more, it was just

COMPLETE DARKNESS!!!

I just knew I am moving down and hoped I will come up as well.

The jostle of water gushing down from the sides, welcomed us in a while, it took me few seconds to guess it was underground water. The cage thumped down hitting the bottom and we saw lights. The bell rang again and the door opened. What I saw in front of me was almost a waterfall. We had to cross it to find our way. What would you do if your lift stops and opens and you find a waterfall in front of you?  Felt magical.

The wet team of six marched on to reach the entrance of the mine. I was expecting a lot of dirty mine workers. Hardly few people with cap lamps were loitering around. The supervisor explained that mining was taking place in some other corner and we wouldn’t get to see any workers here.

I stopped and looked around. The roof was cemented with reinforced concrete and bolts and beams were in abundance to ensure strength. The black shiny pieces of coal were strewn everywhere. The place was well lit. Railway tracks could be seen leading us inside.

The supervisor took out a cloth map from his jacket and opened it. The mine is a city by itself, spanning an area of 15 square kilometres (3km * 5 km) and we were just at the tail of it. We began to walk and walk and walk.

I observed myself. My heart beat was different. My blood pressure was kinda going weird. Was oxygen insufficient? I took deeper breaths. I could see that all of us were sweating profusely by now. The mine was toooooooo humid. The guy recalled how miners sweat from head to toe and remove boots to drain sweat. In less than 5 minutes, I felt sweat drops trickling down my neck, gathering momentum to reach my feet like a shooting star. I was dehydrating. So were others. Supervisor was cool.

But the visual treat that followed,  made me forget my heart beat and thirst and we kept moving in.

The paths became narrow and the roof concrete was no more there. It was just COAL and only COAL around. Underground coal is of superior quality and is called coking coal, required for specific industries like Steel. Coal grade, Coal quality, Coal seams; we were appraised of all technical details. Sometimes mining engineers hit hard rock while mining. It is magma that forced itself out through the earth’s crust and solidified in between the coal seam. It makes mining more difficult.

I saw the mini rail wagons perched full of coal, the underground water being channelled like a stream( I drank from it!! Thirsty! L ), the security arrangements, the conveyor belts, the apparatus for checking presence of methane gas and list goes on. We adjusted the cap lamps and tapped the floor with the stick often and walked forth.

Supervisor opened up the map and showed us where we reached.

We took a turn and walked on to spot concrete roofs once again. A sign board read:

“YOU ARE STANDING 2000 FT BELOW THE SURFACE OF THE RIVER DAMODAR”

River Damodar reminded me of geography classes. I was thrilled. We walked up the entire breadth of the river to reach the other end which had a similar sign board.

Supervisor explained to us the risks of mining during floods. Water may gush into the mines if water levels crosses a limit. The water level is monitored round the clock and miners are evacuated immediately in case of an abnormal rise.

There is no guarantee to a miner’s life. The roof may cave in. The ventilation may be inadequate. The conveyor belt may trap him. Every moment is risky.

The ventilation arrangements were explained in detail. Some paths with inlet air were very windy and almost blew us out. Air was carefully let in and let out through predesigned paths to ensure complete ventilation. Doors were used to close paths to control air flow. We opened and closed doors and squeaked in and out of dark narrow pathways, jumped over stalled conveyor belts, took shortcuts,  and went on.

We were thirsty. Thinking of going back all the way we came, gave us a chill down the spine. The cap lamp was shining bright but the battery was becoming a nuisance.

We gathered together at a place and the supervisor asked us to switch off the cap lamps together to experience darkness.

We did it. Cap lamps off.

COMPLETE ULTIMATE WALLAH DARKNESS.

Nothing can be darker. I wondered if I existed.

We switched the lamps on. We were given water to drink. Phew!!

I sat down on a railway track with the water bottle somebody gave and thought to myself: A girl from Kalamassery, Cochin, Kerala; is now sitting inside the deepest underground mine in India? Omg! What am I doing here???

We walked back carrying the evergreen memories of the whole episode and some shiny glitzy coal crumbs in my pocket as souveneirs.

We boarded the cage and got back to earth, once again almost fully wet.

I salute the coal mine workers who toil day in and day out in these conditions to ensure our country has a stable GDP growth.

WHAT A DAY.

(P.S.: The next time I visited the same mine, for another official reason, it was the beginning of  winter. It was no longer humid but terribly cold inside (at least 10 degrees less than on surface) and I went in unprepared for this surprise. I felt like I am in a mortuary and came out of it as though I was kept in a freezer for 2 hours. My lungs froze and I still remember nursing my cough and cold for next two months after that event.)