The Forgotten Volcano

Barren Island, India’s only active volcano on an isolated island in the Andaman & Nicobar chain hasn’t been silent since the tsunami.

In late January, a volcano was reported to have spewed ash plumes up to a height of 3km, that is 10,000 feet above sea level. It happened in India and yet evoked not a whimper of interest. Barren Island, India’s only active volcano on an isolated island in the Andaman & Nicobar chain hasn’t been silent since the tsunami. It is the northern most tip of the volcanic arc connecting Sumatra to Myanmar. Professor D Chandrasekharam, from the Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Bombay,  who’s been monitoring the volcano for almost a decade now, syas,   “Had this volcano occurred on land, we could have harnessed the huge amount of heat energy generated.” But since it is on an isolated island, with no obvious reasons for commercial exploitation, Barren Island seems to erupt in oblivion.

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Shubhangi Swarup