It will soon be 30 years since the August 21, 1986 limnic gas eruption in Lake Nyos in Fungom Subdivision, Menchum Division of the North West Region.
The unusual natural catastrophe left 1,746 people dead and over 8,000 cattle killed. Earlier on August 15, 1984, a similar eruption in Lake Monoun in the West Region killed 37 people. According to scientists, such disasters had never been recorded in geological history.
In order to prevent any future occurrence in the over 200 crater lakes in Cameroon, scientists from the Yaounde-based Institute of Geological and Mining Research, IRGM, have since 1986 been working with foreign counterparts to monitor under water CO2 gas accumulation in Lakes Nyos and Monoun. While the threat has been completely removed for now in Monoun, IRGM scientists hope to do so in Lake Nyos in the next three to four years.
In the following chat with the Director of IRGM, who was recently in Lake Nyos to inspect progress on the degassing project, Dr Joseph Victor Hell revisits efforts made in securing the lake from further eruptions or collapse of the embankment dam. He spoke to Cameroon Tribune in Zhoa at a workshop to sensitise local people on disaster prevention and management.
