ReliefWeb, 15 Mar 2007
Indonesia 'mud volcano' to be fed more concrete balls
Source: Agence France-Presse (AFP)
JAKARTA, March 15, 2007 (AFP) - A bid to plug an Indonesian "mud volcano" with
concrete balls after its toxic flow displaced 15,000 people is to use thousands more of
them than planned, an official said Thursday.
The plan involves dropping chains of four heavy balls into the crater, and workers have
nearly deposited an initial target of 374 chains -- but hundreds more are to be sent
into the steaming funnel.
"The plan is to drop 500 more chains," said Rudi Novrianto, a spokesman for the
government team implementing the initiative, which was devised by Indonesian
scientists and hopes to slow the mudflow by 50-70 percent.
Some experts are sceptical about the plan's chances of success, with mud still
flowing from the crater near Indonesia's second-largest city of Surabaya.
Geologists have also said that the first batch of concrete balls slid far deeper into the
crater than expected.
Estimates had suggested 125,000 to 160,000 cubic metres of mud flowed from the
hole daily, but Novrianto said Wednesday that the flow had decreased by around
80,000 to 90,000 cubic metres.
However, he added the team was trying to devise more accurate ways of measuring
the flow. The assessment is currently based partly on how much mud is held back
behind emergency dykes, which keep breaking and spilling the sludge.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last week ordered the effort to continue for
another month. The government expects to spend around 370 million dollars tackling
the phenomenon.
About 3,000 residents from the crater's site in Sidoarjo, East Java, who have yet to be
compensated after the mud swamped their homes, plan to demonstrate at the
presidential palace in Jakarta, reports have said.
The hot mud began bubbling up from deep underground in late May last year after
exploratory gas drilling at the site by local firm PT Lapindo Brantas.
The sludge has inundated some 600 hectares (1,500 acres), including many homes,
and threatens to swamp a key railway, which is to be rerouted away from the danger
zone.
Experts are unsure how long the crater will spew mud if left unchecked, with some
suggesting it could be years. bs/skj/mtp
Copyright (c) 2007 Agence France-Presse
Received by NewsEdge Insight: 03/15/2007 05:53:12 |
