JHARIA COALFIELD TODAY, TOMORROW AND THEREAFTER

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ABSTRACT
The present status of Jharia coalfield with respect to mining and associated activities and social and general environment has been discussed and it appears that in the present state it is difficult to plan for scientific mining due to various constraints due to the presence of fires, buildings, and other surface properties. On a rough estimate about 75 percent of the total coal reserves in the coalfield are still available and there is a need for long-term planning. It is anticipated that if suitable measures are not taken in time the coalfield in about 30 years time may present a deserted and bleak look.

KEY-WORDS
[Jharia coalfield, mine fires, subsidence, inundation, environment, rehabilitation, resettlement, reclamation, and human resource management]

JHARIA COALFIELD TODAY
India with about 206 billion tonne of coal reserves is well placed with respect to the sources of energy. The country stands third in terms of coal production in the world after China and USA and in the year 2000-2001 it produced about 310 million tonne of coal out of which nearly 75% was used for thermal power generation. The total power generation capacity in the country is about 100,000 MW out of which about 70% is the thermal power. In the next ten years, i.e., by 2010-12, the total thermal power generation in the country is expected to reach a level of about 140,000-150,000 MW, which will require doubling of the coal production.
In the Indian coal scenario Jharia coalfield occupies a special status as this is the only storehouse of prime coking coal and has been meeting the coking coal needs of the country for over a century. Coal mining in the coalfield was started in the last decade of the 19th century.
The coalfield having an area of about 450 sq km belongs to Gondwana group of Permian age and has Talchir, Barakar, Barren and Ranigunj measures. It is a sickle shaped coalfield occuring in the form of a basin truncated with a major boundary fault on the southern flank. The details of the sedimentary formations in the coalfield are given in Table 1, and the coal reserves in the coalfield are as shown in Table 2. The strata composition of the coalfield is as given in Table 3.
Due to coal mining and associated activities the land use in the coalfield has undergone redical changes as seen in Table 4, which gives a comparison of the land use in the years 1925, 1974, 1987 and 1993. In a subsequent study reported in 1996 the land use pattern of the coalfield area was as given in Table 5.
The coalfield has more than 40 workable coal seams out of which the upper seams have coals of superior quality and this quality deteriorates with the seams at deeper horizons. It is generally understood that the seams below VIII-Seam have medium to non-coking coals. The percentage of coal in Barakar measures is about 20, i.e., the overall coal-overburden ratio is 1:5. The relevant details are given in Table 1.

Table 1 : Details of sedimentary formations in Jharia coalfield(Source: Bharat Coking Coal Limited)

Sl No	Description	Barakar formations	Barren measures	Ranigunj measures	Talchir measures
1.	Area (sq m)	218	178	54	-
2.	Location	Extends in EW direction in the northern half and forms eastern and SE part of the coalfield	Exposed in central & southern part of the coalfield	Forms a basin in SW part of the coalfield	Outcrop in the NW as a thin strip along northern periphery of the coalfield
3.	Number of workable coal seams	40	0	10	-
4.	Thickness (m)	1,000-1,200	600-625	700-720	250
5.	Percentage of coal /sandstone /shale	20/60/20	0/70/30	10/80/10	-

Table 2: Coal reserves in Jharia coalfield in million tonne (Source: Bharat Coking Coal Limited)

Sl No	Quality	Proved	Indicated	Total
1.	Coking	6,929	3,298	10,227
2.	Non-coking	4,479	2,371	6,850
3.	Total	11,408	5,669	17,077

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