Despite living atop raging coal fires, residents refuse to leave Bokapahari for new government apartments.
Bokapahari is the closest you can get to biblical hellfire.
Posted on 04/02/2010 5:14:09 PM PDT by myknowledge
BOKAPAHARI, India—This village may be as close as you can find on Earth to the biblical vision of hell.
Coal fires rage just below the surface, making places too hot to walk barefoot. Noxious gases spew from fissures in and around houses, which frequently collapse. Thousands of residents live in this inferno, earning roughly $2 a day pilfering coal they sell in the local market.
The central government has spent $5 million to build nearly 2,400 new apartments eight miles away to house residents of Bokapahari. So far, the residents are staying put.
Residents say they have no way of earning a living if they move to the new complex. What's more, they complain that the new apartments, nine- by 11-foot rooms with an adjoining bathroom and kitchen, are too small to fit families that often include six to 10 people. The result is that dozens of new three-story buildings have stood empty for the past year, their fresh yellow paint already stained black from coal dust.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Despite living atop raging coal fires, residents refuse to leave Bokapahari for new government apartments.
Bokapahari is the closest you can get to biblical hellfire.
9X11 is a little bit cramped!
There are places elsewhere, that have been burning for over three decades. In Eastern Europe, I think, and one in the United States.
Been to India many times, never been there!
Centralia PA.
There is a place in PA like this too!
Believe it or not, there are hundreds of underground seam fires in the United States. Centralia Pennsylvania is probably one of the best known but there are many others.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2010/0205/Centralia-Pa.-coal-fire-is-one-of-hundreds-that-burn-in-the-U.S
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