KGF Full Form

KGF full form is Kolar Gold Fields. Counted among the major gold mines of our country, the Kolar Gold Fields (KGF long form) was discovered long back. At the Bangarpet taluk under the Kolar district, situated in Karnataka, KGF was the world’s second deepest gold mines. However, on 28 February 2001, it was shut down for the losses incurred from high costs of production and reduced deposits of gold. 

About Kolar Gold Fields

The Kolar Gold Fields is located at a distance of 100 kilometres from the city of Bangalore, in Karnataka. Though it is not currently under use, it has been mined for over a hundred and twenty years in the past. It was named Little England or Mini England by the English. This gold mine was 3000 meters deep. The city of KGF was the first Indian city and the second city in the world to get an electricity supply. The electricity supply for the Kolar Gold Fields was drawn from the Kaveri Electric Power Plant in Shivanasamudra. It was the oldest power plant in India. Later, the entire city of Bangalore was provided with an electric supply.  

In the early 1900s, the British government created a lake in the area of Bethamangala to provide water supply to the area of Kolar Gold Fields (full form KGF) and its surrounding areas. The government installed huge pipelines so that fresh and filtered water could be transported to the mining areas. The freshwater was collected from the Pala river. The Government Water Works from which the filtered water was sourced were at a distance of five miles from the KGF mines. With the aesthetics of lake view, the Kolar Gold Fields became quite a preferable picnic as well as a sailing spot among the then Britishers. 

Later, in the 1960s, a laboratory was constructed 8000 feet deep in the gold mines of Kolar Gold Fields (KGF full form name), to carry out research work on protons based on Homi Jahangir Bhabha’s article. It was published in a seminar conducted in Mumbai, in December 1950. Also, research was carried out on cosmic rays at the laboratory in KGF. Iron rods of 8000 tonnes were subjected to radiation to analyze the cosmic radiations. However, the experiments were not successful in the long run. In the 1980s, there were rumours of nuclear fuel being dumped in the Kolar Gold Field mining area. 

KGF Labourers

Since the gold mines at Kolar Gold Fields (full form KGF) were shut down, the labourers of the gold mine were left with pittances, and have been living in poverty ever since the shutdown. The government of India does not provide any health aid or monetary aid to these labourers. The population of the Kolar Gold Fields is nearly, 2,60,000. All these people reside in colonies, that are even less than 100 square feet in size, and the total number of colonies comes to nearly 400. The living conditions in these colonies are very unhealthy. 

The sanitation facilities at KGF are at an all-time low and the toilet arrangements are even worse. The residents of Kolar Gold Fields are at risk of succumbing to various contagious diseases due to the open wastewater drains. Most of the residents excrete in the open, as there are only 5 toilets for the entire population of the Kolar Gold Fields. There had been several rounds of complaints filed for the improvement of sanitation and living conditions to the government. However, no immediate actions had been taken to mend it. The residents of KGF clean the toilets themselves to avoid the outbreak of any diseases.    

Contamination in Kolar Gold Fields

Land Contamination

A substantial amount of waste materials was generated and dumped in the open at the KGF mining region. The total amount of wastes is about 35 million tonnes, the source of which can be traced to the processing of ores. The waste effluents are found to contain silica, cyanide, copper sulphates, sodium silicate, copper sulphate, and other highly toxic substances. The acidification of sulphide dust often leads to the formation of froth on the surface. Certain cyanide dumps rise as high as 40 meters and are referred to as cyanide hills. About 15% of the land is occupied by the dumps and there are about 13 dumps on the land of KGF. The dumped toxic materials contaminate the water table underground and the streams flowing through them during floods. This, in turn, contaminates the agricultural lands and water tanks. 

The labourers who were employed at the Kolar Gold Fields are diagnosed with silicosis due to the smoke, gases, and blasts. Some labourers who did not work underground explicitly were reported to have been diagnosed with liver disorders. Also, certain labourers had been diagnosed with lung cancer. The residents of the KGF area reported having suffered from respiratory issues and skin disorders like allergies. This is since the dust of sulphur dioxide over the cyanide dumps pollute the air. The residents of KGF have to travel all the way to Bangalore for their treatment.

Did You Know?

• Kgf also stands for kilogram-force in Physics. It is used to measure the force acting on 1 kilogram of mass in a gravitational field of 9.8m/s2. To express kgf in S.I. unit of force, Newton, we can write, 1 kgf= 9.8N. 

• There is a Kannada movie based on the Kolar Gold Fields. The movie ‘K.G.F.: Chapter 1’ tells the true story of the struggle of gold mine labourers and their families. It is one of the critically acclaimed movies and is counted among the biggest blockbusters.