Fountain of methane gas stopped after 17 hours in Jorpati

KATHMANDU, July 20: The fountain of methane gas along with mud water that burst out while digging a borewell at a house in Gokarneshwor Municipality-5 Jorpati of Kathmandu on Tuesday finally stopped on Wednesday morning.

The mayor of the municipality, Deepak Risal, said that since around 3AM today, the gas mixed with mud and water has stopped coming out from underground. He also mentioned that the ward chairman was asked to send a water tanker to clean the area.

On Tuesday morning, the gas was released while digging a borewell for water at the house of local Santa Bahadur Lama. The gas released along with the burst of mud and water had reached up to about 50 meters. There was no further damage except that the surrounding houses were filled with mud when the sand and mud flew toward the sky.

“After about 17 hours, the fountain has stopped,” Mayor Risal said, ``Now we are preparing to clean the affected area.” After receiving the information about the gas release, a team of geologists carried out on-site monitoring. According to Mayor Risal, the team of geologists said that there is 8 to 13 percent methane gas. The army and police were mobilized there till night because there was a risk of fire.