Singareni coal mines, Kothagudem

It was a date to remember – no man or a woman involved. The location was 20 kilometers down the earth into the source of today’s industrial world. The coal mines of Singareni – blessed is the man who in a dire attempt to feed his stomach lit the ‘stones’ by mistake, which turned out to be coal. Our then colonial rulers smelling food for their Industrial Revolution did their honourable bit in making these as active mines. And yes, profound thanks to my uncle, the Superintendent of Mines, without whose necessary strings pulled, I could not have had this opportunity to meet the man of the day. Down the shaft I went into the artificially illuminated darkness, hardly able to contain my excitement. (well I was repeating ‘I am going into a coal mine’ in ‘Mary had a little lamb tune…) Our guide, a coal worker tried hard to camouflage his surprised alarm into polite smiles. As I was walking down the mine, I just had this need to touch everything – be a part of the coal mine as much as possible. It was like going into a long tunnel- only that this dark tunnel’s light was to the world above. The sadistic streak in me laughed evilly… what a perfect way to get back on your claustrophobic friends…
The coal - which was the heart of the 19th century Industrial Revolution, and which sparked off all social, political, economic, environmental and technological reforms, stood to divert the course of the world. As the coal worker was explaining the ins and outs of the mine, I could imagine people scurrying up and down, blackened by the coal yet lit by the hope of employment and the next square meal. I could also see the deal of death in their cards when a wall gave away or a worker in his vain hope of earning more died under the weight of an extra sack of coal. Conditions have improved a lot since then, but an uneducated coal labourer is paid 20,000 rupees a month – that’s a lot considering that today’s graduates don’t seem to get jobs easily. I guess everything comes with a price.
I was allowed to go only till the second level of the mine – surprisingly there was cool breeze blowing, a result of the provisions for conducive working conditions. But the further we go, it gets hotter, our guide informed. Honestly, I did not mind going as deep down as possible – the searing heat and the danger involved would only be physical discomforts compared to the ecological damage done by the human footprint. I was truly overwhelmed. I walked further, oblivious to my cousin who was complaining of her broken designer shoes and her fear of going further. God, give me a break I thought. I was in a place which was the source feeding the civilization above, the answer to all the comforts of today. I was awestruck – although I did not know for what. Could it be for the development that took place aftermath the revolution or the callous indifference of humans to the screaming depletion of this resource?
I thought of the rippling effects of this 19th century discovery. What millions and millions of years ago was nothing but a buried tree, bearing the brunt of Nature’s chemical processes, today is the oxygen to the industrial world. It would not have been possible for coal to gain such a ubiquitous position, if not for the humans who discovered it accidentally. And to think of it in today’s terms, we have become so dependant on it that we hold international conferences to find out alternate sources of energy to patch the hole of its fast depletion. This aspect of the discoverer and the dependant being one is what makes humans a part of nature even though we tend to usurp a huge chunk of that part.
Penning down my personal pieces sometimes and going a little off track, I do think if Erich Segal ever thought of coal when he wrote ‘Oliver’s Story’? Well, there is this part where Ollie decides to leave Marcie as she violates labour laws by employing under-aged children in her factories. These labour laws, this ‘Oliver’s Story’ would never have existed if not for this black beauty. Perhaps it is a warped sense of being fortunate as I could not take any photographs or videos for security reasons. I did feel bad then, but now I think it would not have been just to record centuries of development into today’s ‘just a click away’ technology (which is again a result of centuries of development… hmmm)

How to get there:
The Singareni Mines are in Kothagudam, in Khammam. Once you get to Khammam, there are buses to Kothagudam and decent places to stay. The locals could direct you to the mines and you can visit the mines with the permission from the authorities.