There is no comprehensive study to find out the health implications of coal dust. K K Tiwari, deputy director, Central Fuel Research Institute (CFRI), Dhanbad, says nobody is interested in studying the toll that coal dust might be taking on public health. "If you report the facts the government will stop giving funds,' he laments. If at all a study is conducted after spending a lot of money, there is hardly any action based on the reports.

The heavy pollution levels in coal towns have led to serious health problems among workers and local people. In 1999, around 236 of the 110,000 workers were reported to be affected by pneumoconiosis (commonly known as coalminers' disease) only in the Jharia Coalfields. This incurable disease is caused due to a specific reaction of the lungs to coal dust.

"We have an apex board where we send the patients for check up if we feel they may be suffering from pneumoconiosis, points out A K Chakravorty, medical superintendent at Bharat Coking Coal Limited, Dhanbad.

A scientist at the Central Mining Research Institute in Dhanbad says a study in the mid-1990s showed that around 75 per cent of the 596 workers surveyed were found to have one health problem or another. In 1992-93, there were around 500 cancer patients from Jharia at the Tata Memorial Hospital, Jamshedpur, and 400 cancer patients in Chitranjan Memorial hospital. "We don't know how many such patients are going to other hospitals,' he adds.