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ount Sinabung Eruption Disaster Handling Task Force in North Sumatra has said the fresh eruptions taking place in the past two days do not change plans to return evacuees to their respective villages.

Task force commander Let. Col. Asep Sukarna said the return process to Sigarang-garang village and Sukanalu villages would take place on Feb. 12.

'€œAccording to the schedule, evacuees from Sigarang-garang and Sukanalu villages will be returned on Thursday. The plan has not changed despite fresh eruptions,'€ Asep told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

He said 2,443 evacuees, or 795 families, would be returned home. They have been staying at seven shelters in Berastagi and Kabanjahe in Karo regency for the past year since Mount Sinabung started erupting in September 2013.

He added that the Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center (PVMBG) had allowed evacuees from Sigarang-garang and Sukanalu villages to return home as their areas were safe from pyroclastic flows. Both of them are located in Naman Teran district, more than 3 kilometers from the volcano.

Asep said only three villages, Suka Meriah, Bekerah and Simacem, were safe for the returnees, as the villages are located 3 km from the volcano, which is part of the pyroclastic flow red zone. All of the homes in the three villages have been destroyed by the pyroclastic clouds.

'€œResidents living in the three villages will be relocated to the Siosar forested area in Merek district,'€ said Asep.

After repeated eruptions over the past three years, Mt. Sinabung stabilized in the last week of January 2014, prompting the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) to start sending home evacuees whose houses were located outside the 5-km radius.

At that time, according to data at Karo regency administration, there were a total of 30,117 evacuees, or 9,388 families, accommodated in 42 evacuation centers.

As of December, residents of Sigarang-garang and Sukanalu villages remained the last to return to their homes.

Mt. Sinabung erupted again on Tuesday. Based on observations by the PVMBG, the volcano discharged pyroclastic clouds twice at 12 midnight and 6 a.m. as far as 3,500 meters to the south. It did not monitor volcanic ash emissions as the mountain was covered by fog. However, the ash was carried by wind to the southwest.

A total of 17 eruptions were also recorded on Monday, marked with pyroclastic flows and a discharge of volcanic ash up to 4,500 m to the south.

Volcanic ash from the fresh eruptions covered a large part of Payung and Tiganderket districts in Karo regency.

Students from a number of schools did not attend school due to the volcanic ash.

Principal of elementary school SD 040483 in Payung district, Jupiter Tarigan, said his school had been covered by ash for two days, but school activities were ongoing.

'€œWe keep the school activities going despite being disrupted by ash. We are used to such a situation ever since Sinabung erupted,'€ said Tari-gan on Tuesday.

He acknowledged that some of the students did not attend school as a result of the ash. He said his school would not reprimand the absent students as he understood the situation.

Tarigan added that students were required to wear masks to prevent them from inhaling ash. They had provided masks to students during the learning and teaching process.

A farmer in Mardingding village, Sinar Sitepu, said the volcanic ash emitted by the eruption in the last couple of days had disrupted their activities, but they did not stop tending their fields.

'€œWhat else would I do if I don'€™t tend to my farm? We'€™ll still be exposed to the ash at home, so we'€™d rather work in the fields and wear masks,'€ said Sitepu.