Air of calm at Devil’s Woodyard

AN air of calm returned to the Devil’s Woodyard yesterday, the day after the mud volcano at Hindustan Road in New Grant, on the outskirts of Princes Town, erupted twice in five hours.

There were no more reports of visible volcanic activity.

On Tuesday, the first eruption occurred at 4.20 am followed by a minor one at 8.52 am.

To maintain public safety and security, two temporary shelters at the Hindustan Community Complex and Hindustan Community Centre were opened to accommodate any displaced villagers if the need arose.

Villagers, however, opted to stay in their homes, saying the eruption was a normal occurrence.

“Not a single person left the village, “said Doodastil Pooranlal.

“I have become tired of being frightened. I am not afraid any more because I know what it gives. I believe it reached where it is going. We will have no more explosions for the next 15 to 20 years.”

Pooranlal, 60, recalled that the volcano erupted at the end of 1960, 1970 and in 1995.

“The one in 1995 seemed to be the more dangerous one, because it had damaged roads, a shed, the entrance to the volcano, and there were cracks in neighbouring properties,” he said.

No homes were directly affected by the geological activity this week.

At about 3 am on Tuesday, Pooranlal said, he heard gas escaping from the mud volcano, a sign that it was about to erupt. He said it sounded like gunshots or trees falling. He went outside with his torchlight, but saw nothing. An hour and 20 minutes later, the mud volcano exploded.

“Social media is saying that the mud was hot. It was cold like ice. I felt it the morning,” he said.

Another resident, Premchand Boochoon, 57, said villagers have experience with the eruptions and so evacuation “is out of the question until further notice.”

Like other residents, he said the eruption in 1995 was bigger than this year’s. “It is a normal thing. Just the young villagers might be scared.

Days after the eruptions, everything goes back to normal.

“From my house I saw a huge mountain went up into the air and fell back down,” he said.

Despite receiving no new reports of overnight activities, officials from different organisations revisited the site yesterday to do further research. They included the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management, the Geological Society (GSTT), the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre and the Princes Town Regional Corporation (PTRC).

In a media release the ODPM said the GSTT and the EMA are observing the geological activity at the site. The Rural Development Company and the Local Government Ministry, through the PTRC, it said, were leading the management and co-ordination of the response.

The PTRC did a damage assessment and needs analysis of the area yesterday which confirmed structural damage to the corporation’s infrastructure on site.

Speaking with Newsday at the site, engineering seismologist Ilias Papadopoulos of the Seismic Research Centre said there was no telling whether anything more would happen.

“It is too early to tell. Nothing has changed from yesterday to today,” he said.

He said the ODPM would be keeping the media informed on any further developments.

The ODPM retracted its original statement on the role of the centre in monitoring the geological activity. The centre has a professional interest in observing the geological phenomenon but did not do assessments to rate the flammability level of the site as low. Neither did the centre do continuous assessments of the site or declare the site dormant, the ODPM said.

Meanwhile the ODPM is advising citizens and tourists to avoid visiting the area. Despite the warning, visitors went to get a first-hand view of the aftermath of the eruption.

People with any questions or concerns can contact its Customer Care Centre at 511 or visit the website at www.odpm.gov.tt. Supt Rohan Pardasie and other Southern Division police visited the site.