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day after being evacuated following the increase in the alert status for Mount Sinabung, hundreds of residents from several areas within a radius of seven kilometers from the volcano have returned to their villages to tend their fields.

They returned home without the consent of the officers. They left their shelters quietly in the morning to go home and returned to the shelters at noon.

The absence of officers stationed on the border of the danger zone has made it easier for them to go back and forth to their villages.

They argued that the main reason to return to their villages was to see their homes and tend to their fields.

Gurukinayan villager Usaha Sembiring said he returned to his village for a while to plant cabbage seedlings, which he had bought a day before evacuating.

Usaha acknowledged that returning to his farm was very risky, especially as it was located very close to Mt. Sinabung, only some three kilometers away.

'€œOur farm is located at the foot of Mt. Sinabung. I'€™m actually scared to go to there, but what else can I say, I have to plant the cabbage seedlings so they can grow fast,'€ Usaha told The Jakarta Post after returning from Gurukinayan on Thursday.

He said many residents had evacuated to the shelters, but had to return home to cultivate their farms. He added they were at a loss for what to do at the shelter, so they returned to their farms to fill their spare time.

As many as 2,731 people from Gurukinayan, Berastepu, Pintu Besi and Tiga Pancur villages have been evacuated to shelters in Kabanjahe, the capital of Karo regency, on Wednesday.

The evacuation was carried out following a recommendation from the volcanology agency saying that all the subdistricts within a 7 km radius of the volcano be evacuated.

The recommendation was based on the increase in volcanic activity that led the authority to increase the alert to the highest level on Tuesday at 11 p.m. local time.

Sinabung Disaster Mitigation task force commander Let. Col. Asep Sukarna said every villager from the four subdistricts had been evacuated and currently accommodated at three shelters at the Parish Church, KNPI building and Simpang Lima GBKP Church in Kabanjahe.

Asep added that his task force was currently organizing facilities at the shelters, especially the public bathrooms and preparing for basic needs of the evacuees during their stay at the shelters.

'€œWe don'€™t know for how long residents will take shelter, but the most important thing is meeting all their needs,'€ said Asep.

Asep has urged the evacuees not to return to their villages.

Regarding the villagers who kept returning home to farm, Asep said it was beyond his responsibility.

'€œWe have called on residents not to return to their villages, but we are not responsible for those who still return home,'€ said Asep. He acknowledged that none of the officers even dared enter the danger zone.

Asep said that so far Mt. Sinabung was still emitting lava and tectonic tremors. He added that what made people most afraid were the pyroclastic flows coming from the crater.