In an northeastern Indian town, residents are dying of breathing disorders and skin diseases at alarming rates as underground fires that have raged for nearly a century continue to blanket the city in toxic smoke.

The town of Jharia, in India's northeastern Jharkhand province, plays host to more than 70 fires which have burned continuously beneath the earth's surface since 1916.

Here the infernos have been left to burn unhindered following a coal mine collapse in the resource-rich region - which produced a blaze so intense authorities have balked for decades at the effort required to extinguish it.

Villagers in Jharia, Jharkhand, warm themselves beside a fire made of coal scavenged from the vast mine

Miners work to repair a digger at the bottom of the open-cast mine, where fires have raged since 1916

The underground fires are spewing toxic fumes across the town, causing respiratory and skin diseases

Women scavenge coal from the area as a permanent shroud of toxic emissions blanket the sky

A boy looks out over the mine which is eerily illuminated by the inferno raging beneath the earth's crust

A group of women carry baskets of coal back to their village to sell. Many families are forced to earn a living in the dangerous area

The region is resource rich with an estimated 1.5billion tonnes of untouched coal sitting beneath the surface

Seven-year-old Soni (centre) and her mother Savita (right) carry baskets of coal on their heads with a friend

A man bathes in water which is in itself badly contaminated after spending several days scavenging coal

Fuelled by billions of dollars worth of coal lying under the surface, the fires cause sinkholes which twenty years ago swallowed 250 homes within four hours.

Toxic fumes - which include poisons such as sulfur, sulfur, carbon and nitrogen oxides - are a part of everyday life where coal emissions are causing devastatingly high rates of breathing disorders and skin diseases among locals.

Residents and children spend their days clamoring over the hot ground to eke out a living by chiseling out pieces of coal to sell at local markets.

The first coal mine fire was detected in the area in 1916 and is believed to be due to a open cast mine not being correctly decommissioned.

In the decades since, it has spread to become truly unmanageable.

And despite repeated warnings that the town and surrounding area is on the brink of an ecological and humanitarian disaster, little has been done to help residents despite promises to move the entirety of the town.

A boy on a bicycle watches the mining operation from a nearby hill

Miners attempt to repair a digger at the sprawling open-cast mine in northeastern India

The first coal mine fire was detected in the area in 1916 and is believed to be due to a open cast mine not being properly decommissioned

There have been repeated warnings that the area is on the brink of an ecological and humanitarian disaster

Flames emanate from the ground where beneath the surface, more than 70 fires have raged for decades

A truck laden with coal travels along a road in Bastacolla Colliery, in Jharia, Jharkhand

A young girl burns a pile of coal collected from the sprawling site

A boy poses for a photo while holding a huge lump of coal on his head. The government has promised to relocate locals away from the area, but this has yet to be done

A young girl covered in soot collects pieces of coal to sell at the local market

It is believed that if the remaining coal still sitting below the surface (1.5billion tonnes) was to burn at a similar rate, the fires could last for another 3,800 years, Earth Magazine reported.

Photographer Johnny Haglund visited the area last year for his award-winning photo project The Earth is on Fire and described feeling as though his skin was on fire.

In spite of horrendous living conditions, he also witnessed children making their way through the area in bare feet in order to eke out a living from what coal they could salvage.

He said: 'At the end of every day I had a layer of coal on my clothes and my skin and sometimes and I often felt like my face was burning,' Wired reported.

'I had pretty heavy boots, but sometimes just walking around the soles almost melted off.

'I saw young kids - six or seven years old - carrying coal with no shoes on, breathing that air. It was terrible.'

A mining company employee sits down during his break at one of the area's many coal depots

Flames from the underground fires burst through the surface as a local man watches from afar

Coal mine fires spew out from the ground. Having burned for nearly a century, the fires have been known to cause sinkholes that swallow villagers' homes

It's thought it would be possible to extinguish the fires, but there is a lack of political will

Locals load coal onto a bicycle at the coal mine, which supplies coking coal used in the production of steel