Volcano consumes concrete balls

2007-02-27 14:01

Jakarta - A plan to drop concrete balls into an oozing Indonesian "mud volcano" to slow its disastrous flow may be revised after they slid far deeper than expected, a spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The balls slid one kilometre into the crater, roughly twice the depth anticipated, so many more than planned may be required to staunch the mudflow, said the operation's spokesperson Rudi Novrianto.

"Based on our monitoring of Monday's operations, we may later decide to add to the number of ball chains, but the decision will only be made once the initial target of 374 chains have been dropped into the mud hole," he said.

Each chain comprises four concrete spheres weighing 400-500kgs. Five chains had been dropped into the crater up to Monday.

The audacious but experimental plan aims to slow the toxic mudflow - which has submerged entire villages in East Java province - by about 50-70%.

Basuki Hadimuljono, the head of the team trying to plug the steaming crater, was quoted by the Koran Tempo newspaper as saying that the number of chains required may rise to 1 000 from the initial estimate of 374.

Novrianto said more balls were scheduled to be dropped into the 50-metre crater later on Tuesday.

"The weather is favourable, but so far we have not yet begun resuming the operations," he said.

Exploratory drilling in May last year by local gas company PT Lapindo Brantas pierced an underground chamber of hydrogen sulphide, forcing hot mud to the surface in East Java's Sidoarjo.

The sea of mud has inundated hundreds of hectares of land and made 15 000 people homeless. It is also threatening 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.

- AFP