‘Volcano’ in central Indian town causes alarm 16 April 2008
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A volcano is reported to have erupted in the central Indian town of Sendhwa (Madhya Pradesh state), causing panic. Witnesses reported that ‘hot lava along with burning coal’ flowed ‘from a crater of eight inches [20cm] diameter’ and ‘rose up to 5 to 6 feet [1.5-1.8m]’, and that the thing remained active for 90 minutes or so. AndrhaNews.net has more information:
Locals said the eruption began with a small explosion on Tuesday causing a two-feel wide gap in the soil. The eruptions continued with less intensity on Wednesday with the lava cooling around causing a small hump like structure.
People from places in the vicinity rushed to the spot to watch the natural phenomenon.
“When I got to know about this volcano, we came here to see this. We saw that this vermilion coloured eruption coming out of the volcano. I have never seen something of this sort before. And after cooling, the lava turns black,” said Sandeep Aggarwal.
Geologists and the local authorities are now investigating. India is hardly a hotbed of active volcanism. Could this be a mud volcano, or some kind of subterranean combustion – coal waste, for example? Witnesses reported ‘burning coal’ coming from the fissure. Or perhaps the Deccan Traps are starting up again.
News
Volcano erupts in MP town – The Hindu News Update Service, 16 April 2008
Molten rock erupts near Indore – AndrhaNews.net, 16 April 2008
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The Volcanism Blog 
The little information I dug up (a seismic survey) showed Sendhwa is on top of Deccan Traps basalt which is c. 2000m thick, although perhaps with intervening sediments. Some kind of human-buried coal, I guess. Look forward to seeing what it turns out to be!
PS: I really enjoy your blogging here – keep up the good work.
Thanks, anonymous, it’s nice to be appreciated! As for the Sendhwa ‘volcano’, I agree that some kind of burning coal waste seems the most likely explanation.
Well,
It would be interesting to understand what happened in Indore. Molten rocks were reported in Tirunelveli, Tamilnadu 3- 4 years back. It was considered to be associated to high tension electric shorts from cables lined nearby.