…Can you sleep in a place where the most dangerous lava on earth is boiling just a few kilometers below your bed and the night sky is bloody red? This is not a scene from a horror movie, but the bitter reality of Goma, a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa.
This city is a living Kurukshetra for 20 lakh residents. Where the sun is seen every morning with a prayer that the ground does not explode today. The world calls it ‘City of Volcano’. This is the story of a city where people Volcano If you have the courage to fight fire, you also have the compulsion to bear the heat of lava. Here lava can appear at any time by tearing the ground like a monster, that is why it is considered the most dangerous city in the world to live in.
There is a two-way circle of death here. The geographical location of Goma is more dangerous than any other city in the world.
On one side of this city is the burning ‘Mount Nyiragongo’. This mountain standing in the north of the city is holding the world’s largest ‘lava lake’ in its chest. The lava here is ‘liquid’, which flows like water. When it erupted in 2021, the lava moved towards the city at a speed of 60 km per hour. People didn’t even get a chance to recover. Latest satellite photos are warning that once again the level of lava in the mountain’s crater has reached dangerous heights.
On the other side of this city is the silent killer ‘Lake Kivu’. If the mountain spews fire, the adjacent Lake Kivu is a gas chamber. There is such a huge deposit of methane and carbon dioxide in its depths that even a small earthquake can turn it into a limnic eruption i.e. gas leak, which can suffocate the entire city.
The story of survival of this city is a war in itself. The spirit of the people of Goma astonishes the world. Despite so many dangers, the population here is continuously increasing. The people here have made a strange agreement with the volcano. The black rocks seen on the streets of Goma are frozen lava. The people here cut this lava to make bricks and build their houses. They build a new house from the ashes of the fire that destroyed their house.
But the seeds of prosperity are also hidden in these ashes. Due to volcanic ash, the soil here is so fertile that crops grow without fertilizer. Apart from this, it is also a big adventure tourist spot, which drives the local economy. A large number of people from all over the world come here to see the volcanically erupted mountains.
The most unique thing about the lifestyle here is ‘Chukudu’ i.e. a huge bicycle made of wood. Hundreds of Chukdu drivers carrying goods on the roads are proof that life here depends more on human sweat and stubbornness than on machines. The land here may be black and colorless but the culture here is very colorful. Women wear toshitengi made of brightly colored clothes, which is a way of adding color to their struggling lives. To protect themselves from the lava rocks, people wear thick-soled rubber boots. The main food here is ‘fufu’ made from cassava or maize flour and ‘sambasa’ fish from Lake Kivu. The volcanic mountain coffee here is famous all over the world.
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There is also a unique belief among the people here. While building a house, people put cold volcanic ash in the foundation, so that the ‘God of the Mountain’ remains calm. This belief allows them to sleep peacefully.
However, international organizations view Goma as a ‘ticked time bomb’. Geologists monitor the seismic events going on underground here round the clock. Information is given to people through modern sensors, early warning sirens and radio updates. Now ‘digital maps’ of safe routes are also available on mobile.
The European Union and the World Bank are spending millions of dollars to improve conditions in Goma, but the security of scientific equipment remains a major challenge due to political instability and rebel groups.
Many cities in the world are close to volcanoes, but nowhere is the risk like Goma. Example-
-Naples (Italy)- Surveillance technology here is very advanced. People get timely warning about the volcano and are taken to safe areas.
-Kagoshima (Japan)- Ash falls here every day, but people live with helmets and special facilities.
-Auckland (New Zealand)- This city is situated on 53 small volcanoes, but they are monogenetic i.e. they erupt once and then subside.
-Reykyavik (Iceland)- where volcanoes like Fagradalsfjall have been continuously active in recent years.
-Goma (Congo)- Here the volcano is active, the lava is the fastest and there is also a lake of poisonous gas.
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Here every morning starts with smoke rising from the mountains. This city, which is surviving between the river of fire and the gas chamber, teaches the world that even when death is standing in front of you, real life is to live in harmony with it instead of accepting defeat.
If you ever go to Goma, while walking on the black roads there, remember that you are standing among the most courageous people in the world, who know that their next breath may depend on the grace of this mountain. But still they smile, do business and dream of the future.
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