When it comes to the topic of “Haunted places” or the tile of “India’s most haunted”, Bhangarh takes the cake but there are several other places in country that share the same status of fear, gossip and folklore. One such place that very few people know about are the mines of Lambi Dehar, also known as Lambidhar Mines.  Mussorie, for time immemorial, has been considered as one of must visit hill-stations of India. Right next to Mussorie, on the outskirts, situated in a valley are the Lambi Dehar mines, which very few of the thousands that visit Mussorie each year have ever heard of. Even in Mussorie there are people who would laugh if you asked them whether the mines were indeed haunted and would call the stories as utter nonsense but majority of the locals, especially the ones living closer to mines, would tell you to stay away because the mines are now believed to be home to a witch who has claimed several lives in the past. Like every other so called “haunted” place in the world, even Lambi Dehar mines have had their share of misfortune, spread over several decades. But that I believe is case with every mining operation anywhere. Mining and accidents, serious or fatal, go hand in hand. There however are beliefs, claims, and facts that were twisted over the time in favor of superstitions. Most of the sites that are showcased as haunted usually have the purpose of attracting tourists; Bhangarh is example of one such destination. Then there are places that are tagged as haunted because of their long history of gore and violence, Delhi’s Khooni Darwaza being one such. But there is also a 3rd category of places that cannot draw any tourism, have not stood witness to a long list of deaths but are claimed as haunted only because of the location. Lambi Dehar falls in the 3rd category. Imagine a very old series of mines, dark tunnels standing amidst the peaks of mighty Himalayas, surrounded by thick forests with clouds touching down in the valley and you will get the idea. It’s an ideal setting for a horror movie which eventually made these mines notorious as haunted.

No one knows when these mines were established, well at least no one knows for certain. There are always contradictory answers when you ask around about such places. Some say that the mines were at least 50 years old while some claim that it remained operational for hardly a period of 10 years and got shut-down due to mysterious deaths. According to some other people, mining was happening in this region since the time of the British. If one is to believe the local legends, these mines were the very reason that gave birth to Mussorie which is commonly believed as established by English as their summer get-away from scorching Indian heat. It is said that the mining was started at Lambi Dehar by English but since they couldn’t stay close to the mining area, they chose to build their residences atop the nearby hills. Slowly the population grew and the town of Mussorie came into existence. The mines are also believed to have been of high value to the English because of the revenues it generated for them. If we are to take a peak in history books, Mussorie was indeed established by British and called their summer home but if we think about what were they doing here, which would have been a very remote area in those times, inclination would slightly go towards the believing that maybe Mussorie indeed came into existence because of Lambi Dehar. But this is all hearsay. Let’s take a look at some of the very little known facts about these mines. The exact date of when mining started in this region is highly disputed but if one is to take a look at whatever records are available, the official date would be somewhere in the 70s. What we do know for a fact however that this mine was shut down in 1996 by the order of Supreme Court. What provoked the order is another disputed matter altogether. Per the authorities, mine was closed because it was located on highly unstable grounds. We all know what havoc monsoon can create in the state of Uttarakhand. The year of 2013 saw a