Indian government stop excavating gold from KGF mines
Indian govt stopped excavation process of KGF ,(Kolar Gold Fields) in 28th February 2001 even after appeal from employees not to because its been going from 19th century as mines.
The year was 1871. Michael Fitzgerald Lavelle, a retired Irish soldier from the British Army, had made Bangalore cantonment his home. Retirement was a drag for Lavelle, who had just returned after fighting the Maori wars in New Zealand.
Although he hoped to make it big post-retirement, Lavelle spent much of his time reading; and a four-page article from the 1804 Asiatic Journal he came across, set Lavelle on a journey that eventually birthed the world’s second deepest goldmine – the Kolar Gold Fields.
While 2018 movie ‘KGF’, touted as the biggest Kannada movie of the year, has built curiosity about this forgotten mining town, and India’s gold rush, the makers admit the movie isn’t a historical account but a work of fantasy. However, this pales in comparison to the real story of the Kolar Gold Fields.
As Operations in the KGF surged ahead, the British planned Asia’s second and India’s first power plant in Kolar. Officers of the Royal Engineers approached the Mysore Maharaja with a proposal to build a hydroelectric plant in the Cauvery river, in 1900. Central Electric Company from New York and Eicher Wyss from Switzerland were given the task of establishing the power plant and 148 km of transmission lines, the longest in the world. Machinery imported from Britain, America and Germany were transported in carts pulled by elephants and horses.
Soon, the candles and kerosene lamps in KGF were replaced by bulbs, even before Bangalore or Mysore were electrified. While in 2018, several parts of the state experience power cuts, by 1902, KGF had uninterrupted power supply.
For British engineers and others from the across the globe, Kolar was ‘Little England’. Weather like England, bungalows and clubs made KGF an ideal home. Being a British mining colony, life in KGF was greatly influenced by British culture.
This was in sharp contrast to ‘coolie lines’, the name given to the makeshift homes occupied by miners, a majority of whom were Tamil migrants. Life was hard on the other side, with more than one family often occupying one such shed. It was famous for its rat invasion, where workers killed over 50,000 rats a year.
Workspaces were no different. Despite the constant supply of dehumidified air into the underground tunnels, temperatures in the tunnels shot up to 55 degree Celsius and accidents were commonplace.
As the gold reserves in KGF began to reduce, expatriates began to leave Kolar, however key positions were held by the English until Independence. When the central government decided to take over all the mines in 1956, ownership of most of the mines had already been handed over to the state government.
Apart from the British, many from the Anglo-Indian community, who were in managerial posts began leaving the country for greener pastures. Other mining experts from Europe left for the Gold Mines in Ghana and West Africa.
The mines that produced 95 per cent of India’s gold output, were nationalised to keep them from shutting down. However, in 2001, despite massive protests, Kolar Gold Fields were shut down.
The abandoned underground tunnels, once pathways of gold, are now flooded with groundwater. Despite government plans and multiple court orders, the resurrection of the KGF seems far-fetched.
Thus, even though KGF continues to bear gold in its belly, the cost of retrieving it would be greater than the value of the gold itself.
0 Comments