By IANS,
Mumbai : The oozing of a lava-like substance from the earth created panic among villagers in Murti and surrounding areas of Baramati in Maharashtra Tuesday and the police cordoned the area off and sent then liquid’s samples for analysis.
A hot jet of the molten substance was thrown out of the earth’s bowels Sunday night. Though the substance has stopped oozing out since early Tuesday morning, it has turned into a semi-solid brackish rock like formation spread over more than 30 square feet.
Confirming the incident, assistant police inspector Vivek Lawand of the Vadgaon-Nimbalkar police station told IANS by telephone that the entire area has been cordoned off and people were advised to remain at a safe distance.
He said the district collector and other civil and police officials were at the site, around 450 km from here.
The police also sent a message to the state geological department to investigate the substance.
“We have sent samples of the material to the geological department and we will decide what to do after we get results of the tests,” Lawand said.
He said the material was coming out near an electric pole. “Since nothing has happened to the pole, it might not be lava, but we will wait for analysis results,” he said.