Ashfall in Bago City on Saturday*OCD photo
Sulfuric stench remained in Barangay Mailum, Bago City, where open water sources were contaminated by a minor explosive eruption at Kanlaon Volcano on Saturday.
Contaminated by ashfall and sulfur are springs in the upper sitios of Barangay Mailum that are the sources of drinking water of communities in the area, Dr. Merijene Ortizo, City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) head, said Monday, Feb. 17.
The Bago City Health Office is sending sanitary inspectors from its Water Sanitation and Hygiene Cluster to Mailum to get water samples for laboratory tests, she said.
Meanwhile, residents have been advised not to drink water from those areas, she said.
Potable water is being delivered to residents of Mailum, many of whom live in remote areas.
The Negros Occidental provincial government water taker with a filtration system is helping deliver the water, Ortizo said.
The Bago City government has also delivered N95 masks for Mailum residents to protect them from the ash and sulfuric odor, she added
Ortizo said the 9,827 residents of Mailum were affected by the ashfall and sulfuric stench from Kanlaon’s eruption.
Ashfall cleanup operations were underway, Ortizo added.
They have also been delivering potable water to residents of Barangay Ilijan in Bago since the Dec. 9 Kanlaon eruption as their water sources were also affected, she said.
Affected residents in Ilijan are 4,216, Ortizo said.
They are delivering water to Mailum on Mondays and Thursdays and to Ilijan on Tuesdays and Fridays, she said.
Ashfall from Kanlaon’s Saturday eruption affected 46 puroks in barangays Mailum, Dulao, Ma-ao, Binubuhan, Abuanan, Antipuluan, Ilijan, Tabunan and Bacong, Ortizo said.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported 34 volcanic earthquakes, and 4,604 tons of ash emitted at Kanlaon Volcano from 12 a.m. Sunday to 12 a.m. Monday. *