AGARTALA: A volcanic lava-like inflammable liquid has been reportedly coming out of the ground in Tripura's Jalifa village and has triggered panic among the local residents of the area.
It has become a matter of concern for the Tripura state government, in North East India, which is highly vulnerable to earthquakes as it lies in seismic zone V.
This is the third such incident reported this year in the state which is very close to Chittagong in Bangladesh.
Earlier in mid-April, at two spots, namely Baishnavpur and Ghagrabasti of Sunroom, lava-like liquid erupted along with fire and gas.
In the recent incident that happened a few ago, the local villagers of Jalifa were scared to find lava erupting from the lower portion of an electric pole on the roadside. They reported the matter to the fire extinguishing team and local police.
A team of firefighters rushed to the spot and tried to spray water and foam, but failed to stop the ongoing eruption that had already burned the spot.
Scientists from the Department of Science, Technology and Environment of the Government of Tripura also visited the spot.
After examining the spot and analysing the samples collected from the spot, they concluded that the fire, smoke and other materials running out of the ground is due to a fault line that passes through that area beside the displacement of the underground tectonic plates in that region which is creating huge sub-surface heat.
Avisek Chaudhuri from the Tripura Space Application Centre, who is leading the scientist team, said that there is very little chance of eruption of lava or an active volcano. But the Science, Technology and Environment Minister of Tripura Sudip Roy Barman has expressed concern as the state has a history of recorded massive earthquakes earlier.
Mr Barman said that the government is taking the matter.