The year is 2008, and India’s oldest gold mine has a barren look. Bang in the middle of the town of Kolar is a set of serrated hillocks resembling plateaus – known as the Cyanide Dumps.
The slag from a century of gold mining accumulated into these piles, which gained their name from the use of cyanide in the mines. With the mines long shut, the slag piles are now a tourist attraction. When the winds are high, they blow dust particles and allergens into the town. Locals frequently fall ill, and reports suggest that the piles spread radiation.
You’d imagine that the residents of a gold town would disapprove of having a mine and its dumps so near to them. But a visit to the railway station at six in the morning paints a harsh reality – thousands of young adolescents boarding trains to Bangalore, nearly 70 kilometres away. They’re looking for work – and many are relatives of the 4345 families who lost their livelihoods when the mine was closed in 2001. At one point, the mine employed around 40,000 workers. When Bharat Gold Mines Limited (who had run the mine since 1972) closed shop, the locals lost their supply of water, electricity, and livelihood.
Many of the young adolescents were girls, working in garment factories in Bangalore’s suburbs. Come nightfall, and they all return by the 9 pm train to Kolar – risking sexual harassment along the way. The Kolar gold rush was over, and if the youth wanted work, they had to chase after Silicon Valley.
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