Bacolod City – Two days after the ash eruptions of Kanlaon volcano on February 15, residents of Barangay Mailum in Bago City, Negros Occidental, which has a population of 9,827, are still suffering from a sulfuric stench, aside from the shortage of drinking water, local disaster management officer Dr. Merijene Ortizo disclosed recently.
Ortizo said that among the nine barangays in Bago City which experienced ash fall and strong smell of sulfuric fumes, Brgy. Mailum was the worst affected by the ashfall.
The water contamination, according to Ortizo, was only confined to some remote areas of barangay Mailum, including the sitios of Lunao, Hagdan, Pataan, Tabidiao, and puroks Pili and Durarog, which are located about 7 to 8 kilometers from the volcano, where residents source their drinking water from springs.
Water rationing is currently ongoing in the affected areas, courtesy of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office and the Bago CDRRMO.
Ortizo said that she has already requested the Bago City Health Office to conduct water physicochemical analysis in the affected areas.
Other Bago City barangays hit by ash fall were Ilijan, Dulao, Ma-ao, Binubuhan, Abuanan, Antipuluan, Tabunan and Bacong.
While they have not received any reports of health related concerns from the affected residents, Ortizo said the Bago City government has distributed face masks.
Alert Level 3 currently prevails over Kanlaon Volcano.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, in an advisory it issued on February 17, reported the occurrence of 32 volcanic quakes and sulfur dioxide emissions of 4,604 tons on Feb. 16.
Mari Andylene Quintia, resident volcanologist of the Kanlaon Volcano Observatory in La Carlota City, reported that the eastern upper slope of the volcano edifice, which faces Canlaon City, has been undergoing swelling since January 10. (Gilbert Bayoran via tvds)