“The fire burned the ground,” a 22-year-old man who had been collecting coal illegally near a large commercial opencast mine told AFP. Fossil fuel collectors and activists report that hundreds have been killed over the past few decades. Half of India’s greenhouse gas emissions come from burning coal. According to him, BCCL cannot answer for the safety of the people who enter the mines illegally. If the government is not in a position to provide jobs, people will have to make do with what nature provides,” he insists.

Source: Daily Nation July 16, 2023 09:12 UTC