JOIN US A remote village in Ukhrul district of Manipur is burning midnight oil to keep vigil on an unremitting surge of smoke and ashes from a neighbouring hill which they presume to be volcanic eruptions.
While the government has sounded an alert in the area, panic stricken villagers are leaving for safer places.
According to sources, for the past one week, unprecedented surge of smoke and ashes started erupting out of a swamp atop a hill near the Old Wahong village in Ukhrul district of Manipur, neighbouring Myanmar.
The locals informed the district authorities that a crater has been formed in the swamp and that it was gradually expanding. Gaseous smokes are erupting out of several holes in the crater, sources further added.
“We have got the report of the eruptions. This incident has created panic in the area. We have sent civil authorities and also security forces have been alerted. We are keeping a watch. Proper investigations would reveal if it is a volcanic eruption or not,” said Modak Hrisheekesh Arvind, the District Commissioner of Ukhrul district.
The village is no less then 150 km away from state capital Imphal.
Meanwhile, the Sub-Divisional Officer of Jessami has been asked to sent a preliminary report and take necessary precautions.
Source added that the villagers, who are mostly farmers engaged in Jhum (Shifting Cultivation) are reportedly moving to safer place. Every day hundreds of locals from other neighbouring area are hiking the hill to get a glimpse of the eruptions.
A team of Manipur University’s Earth Sciences Department will visit the site on July 5 to start investigations.
In 2013, a mud volcano erupted at the New Tusom village in Ukhrul close to the Indo-Myanmar border due to the shifting of tectonic plates.