Volcano in Maharashtra? How melting rock triggered panic, video goes viral

A dark, bitumen-like substance found boiling on the soil in a village in Beed district of Maharashtra triggered panic of volcanic lava among the local residents. However, it later turned out to be rocks, which had melted after coming in contact with a high tension power cable of the state electricity distribution company that had fallen to the ground.

A video of the incident, which took place at Sirsala village Parali Vaijnath taluka of the district, went viral on social media on Sunday.

Volcano erupts at
Shirsala near Parali dist beed maharashtra@Dev_Fadnavis @narendramodi @PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/v8mC0U4l2r

— Chowkidar Ananda (@snsypr) April 14, 2019

After watching the video, which was widely shared on the social media platforms, several people called the district administrative officials to know the reason behind it.

When contacted, Beed district collector Astik Kumar Pandey said on Sunday, "The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company's overhead high voltage cable fell to the ground and came into contact with the soil. Rocks lying there melted due to the power current, which ultimately created black liquid substance."

"We told the locals that there is nothing to fear as it has nothing to do with volcanic activity," he said.