Kolar Gold Fields, a century old mining township in Karnataka lies forgotten and neglected after the closure of the mines. Picking up pieces of their shattered lives are the mining community who are forced to give up a place they learnt to call their own.
When Kolar Gold Fields was officially declared dead in 2001, it did not come as a surprise. But, the mines that had been lurching on the verge of death, for the past few decades accepted the official euthanasia reluctantly. Several upsurges of protest were staged by the mining community, who hoped that the closure would be withdrawn. The miners, whose forefathers had migrated to K.G.F years ago, pleaded that they have nowhere to go as this, had become their ancestral home. Yet again economics overthrew emotions; the government declared that the loss making mines could not be revived. The closure brought to an end not just a thousand jobs but a whole way of life, forcing the miners to give up a place they had learnt to call their own.
The history of gold mining in K.G.F dates back to almost two thousand years. Early mining activity was usually carried out by small nomadic groups, who pooled in to buy equipment like pickaxes, firewood and mercury. When they had exploited the pits to the limit of their technological capacity, they moved on, in search of yet another gold vein.
In the 1850's, an Irish soldier Lavelle who had heard of these "native mines" decided to explore the area around the Kolar region. He found old mining equipment and abandoned pits that sometimes went down to about 250 feet. Convinced that there was a fortune to be found Lavelle decided to hunt for the gold himself. In 1875, Lavelle obtained exclusive prospecting rights from the Maharaja of Mysore but he did not strike gold. In 1877, he sold his rights to a big private company. In the next couple of years at least eleven private companies acquired the rights but all of them gave up and moved out. The British engineering firm John Taylor and Sons who had struck gold in mines of Africa were hired by the Mysore Mine Company in 1880. In 1883, they struck rich and abounding veins of gold in K.G.F. The area was so extensively laden with gold deposits that the company decided to sink four shafts.
Hence began the plush days of the mines. At the height of activity there were 42,000 workers working full time to dig out gold. Mining jobs were risky and so, it attracted only the desperately poor lower castes from the neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. These miners, working in the hazardous, humid and hostile underground where the temperature touched 67 C., wore flimsy clothes and carried candles to light their way. By the end of the Nineteenth century, a sprawling British township was in place, complete with its colonial bungalows, golf courses, officer's clubs and ball rooms. K.G.F earned the title of "Little England".
The workers however, continued to remain the wretched of the mines living in mud floored, overcrowded "coolie lines". There were four to fourteen families living in the two- roomed huts provided by the company. Cases of epidemics like plague and cholera were rampant.The British or the 'Dorai' as the locals called them remained uninhibited by the misery of the miners. They lived in palatial bungalows with fire places and well laid out gardens. K.G.F was considered to be a modern and progressive township which promised untold fortunes for those willing to take the risk.
Over the years underground working conditions improved. The shafts became air conditioned, the miners were equipped with good helmets and torches. But, in the mid 40's the Taylor's heard the first rumblings of revolt. The workers unionised themselves under fiery leaders like V.M. Govindan and K.S.Vasan, who led the crusade against the British supremacy in the gold mines. The history of the mines is marked by one of the most vibrant trade union movements in the country. In 1950, the British packed their bags and left 20,000 workers and four depleted mines to the Karnataka Government. In 1972, Bharath Gold Mines Limited a public sector was formed. 40 years of state ownership and mismanagement resulted in enormous losses to the organisation. Even as the mines celebrated their centenary in 1980, closure and retrenchment looked imminent but, it dragged on till, the 2003 High Court verdict ruled out any chance of revival. The century old Kolar Gold Mines which produced 800 tonnes of gold during its prosperous days was declared dead.
With the closure of the mines K.G.F. has turned into a dormitory and neglected township. Distraught miners claim that there is still some life in the mines and, it is mismanagement that has resulted in the current situation. Many of the miners waiting for their retirement benefits are angry and bitter about the treatment meted out to them. Devan and ex- employee of the mines says, "Even after putting in 25 years of service, I have been shoved away like an unwanted dog. I have been waiting for my provident fund from the past three years but, there is no response from the management. Schools are refusing to admit my daughter as I am unable to pay her fees. But nobody cares about us, our lives don't matter". Devan's story is nothing unusual as one gets to hear many more heart wrenching stories of shattered lives and dreams on visiting the miners colonies.
The workers who were retrenched were third or fourth generation miners who had absolutely no training or skill to find alternative jobs. Though as early as 1960's, a plan of alternate employment for the increasingly redundant workforce was considered, by setting up Bharath Earth Movers Limited, it did not help absorb the aftermath of the closure. The miners of K.G.F who had remained the lowest paid compared to any public sector in the country; were faced with obscure and uncertain futures with the declaration of the closure. K.G.F did not possess any employment opportunities to offer the desperately unwaged miners. Hence began the journey to Bangalore, a city that promised shelter in the form of employment. Thousands of workers and their families rendered jobless by the closure travel to Bangalore by the 'Swarna Express' every day for jobs, which pay them meagre salaries. With the closure of the mines, almost 6000 workers travel to Bangalore daily. They work as manual labour, painters, domestic labour, sales persons, tailors, security personnel etc. Vikramadithya had completed his under graduation when, his father a mining employee was laid off. The responsibility of running the family consisting of 7 members was passed on to him. He now travels to Bangalore everyday to work as a bar bender at a construction site where he earns Rs. 80 a day. "How will I run my family when my salary does not cover even my travelling expenses? He asks. His sister who has just finished her 10th standard travels with him, she works at a garment factory. Vikramadithya insists that if the government provides alternative employment in K.G.F lot many of their problems would be solved. In most mining families there is at least one person who travels to Bangalore for employment and, it is this income which helps run the household. These daily travellers leave their homes at six in the morning and get back at nine in the night only to get some rest and sleep.
Interestingly, the course of the journey is a systematic routine, at Bangarapet Junction Tamil news papers appear, heated discussions on the state of politics follow, at Malur the compartment heaves with the smell of idli-sambar and stale rice, at Whitefield lovers fondly utter goodbyes to each other till they meet again, on the train back home. As the salaries earned are meagre ends are met with great difficulty. But, the miners who have faced the heat, dust, and fury of the underground are born survivors. The only difference being, the century old downward journey has now turned into a horizontal expedition resulting in whole new way of living, loving and surviving.
Today the clubs, bungalows, golf courses, hospitals and schools are all in shambles. Many old miners disapprove of this face of life in K.G.F. They feel that the place should be preserved as an aide me moiré to the glorious years of the mines. It should serve as a tribute to the mining community who, with sheer will and endurance helped build a fully developed township on a once barren land.
The valiant gold mines that made the world richer by 800 tonnes of gold should be allowed to tell its story of glory to decline. It should stand testimony, to the dangers and odds braved by the miner in the deep bowels of the earth, for the "yellow metal" which he could barely afford to possess.
