Gateway to Hell to be closed

Ashgabat, Jan 10: Turkmenistan has ordered the closing of ‘Gateway to Hell’. This is a natural gas crater burning since 1971 in Turkmenistan. This is a result of the Soviet drilling operation going awry. As Turkmenistan was a part of the USSR before 1991.

 

 

 

Turkmenistan’s strongman leader has ordered experts to find a way to finally extinguish a massive five-decade old fire in a giant natural gas crater in the Central Asian country, dubbed the ‘Gateway to Hell’.

 

 

 

Citing environmental and economic concerns, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov appeared on state television Saturday telling officials to put out the flames at the Darvaza gas crater in the middle of the vast Karakum desert.

In 2010, Berdymukhamedov also ordered experts to find a way to put out the flames that have been burning ever since a Soviet drilling operation went awry in 1971.

 

President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said that the man-made crater "negatively affects both the environment and the health of the people living nearby".

 

"We are losing valuable natural resources for which we could get significant profits and use them for improving the well-being of our people," he said in televised remarks.

 

To prevent the dangerous fumes from spreading, the Soviets decided to burn off the gas by setting it on fire.

The pit has been ablaze ever since and previous attempts to put it out have been unsuccessful.

 

The resulting crater -- 70 metres (229 feet) wide and 20 metres (65 feet) deep -- is a popular tourist attraction in the ex-Soviet country.

 

In 2018, the president officially renamed it to the "Shining of Karakum".

 

President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said in televised remarks on Sunday that authorities will renew efforts to put out a massive fire that has burned for decades in the Karakum Desert, Agence France-Presse reports. As terrifying as it is fascinating, the crater’s become one of Turkmenistan’s most popular tourist attractions in recent years.

 

“We are losing valuable natural resources for which we could get significant profits and use them for improving the well-being of our people,” he said via AFP.

 

This isn’t the first time Berdymukhamedov has tried to close the gates of hell. He ordered experts to extinguish the flames in 2010, but their efforts were unsuccessful.