Extinguish the fire of ‘the gates of hell’; Turkmenistan orders end to decades-long war Turkmenistan Announces Plans to Extinguish the Burning Gas Crater

by time news

AA huge crater has been burning in Turkmenistan for five decades. The Darwaza Gas Crater, also known as the ‘Gate of Hell’, is a natural gas-filled car that has been burning in the desert since 1971. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ordered a fire in the crater.

Darwaza is a huge pit with a diameter of 70 meters, a depth of 30 meters and an area of ​​5350 square meters. The presence of rich natural gas has kept the Darwaza afloat for decades. Although Darwaza is one of the major tourist attractions in the country, the President has ordered the burning of the crater in view of the environmental pollution, the health of the people and the massive loss of natural gas.

The Darwaza crater started burning in 1971. At that time, Soviet geologists were digging for oil in the Karakum Desert. A large pit was dug as part of the excavation for the oil field. But the pit collapsed and a huge crater formed. The Darwaza crater is a huge underground natural gas cave. The crater was discovered when the top layer fell off as part of the excavation.

With this, the Soviets stopped mining oil here. They adopted the method of fire to prevent the release of toxic gases from the crater into the atmosphere. The gas was expected to burn in a few weeks. But the blaze, which began in 1971, has been going on for more than five decades.

The Darwaza crater has become a major tourist attraction in the desert. The orange flames stretched into the sky. Tourists came to camp in the desert to witness this. The place came to be known as the ‘Gate of Hell’. Attempts to extinguish the fire were made several times in the meantime but to no avail. In 2018, Turkmenistan officially changed the adjective ‘gates of hell’ to ‘the glow of Karakum’.

Large-scale burning of natural gas reserves and health and environmental issues were behind the president’s order to put out the blaze. Despite being touted as a tourist destination, the country’s overall backwardness in tourism has backfired.

(Night view of Darwaza crater)

The president has instructed authorities to find a way to put out the blaze. Earlier, in 2010, Berdymukhamedov ordered a fire. But that attempt failed. It is eagerly awaited whether the ‘fire of hell’ will be extinguished this time or whether the blaze will continue for five decades.

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