Timely quake plan to avoid disaster mooted
Source: The Sangai Express / Agencies
Guwahati, February 12 2014:
More than eight lakh people might die and over 55 lakh get injured if an earthquake measuring between 7 and 8.7 on the Richter scale occurs in the seismically active Northeast, says an estimate by the National Disaster Management Authority.
NDMA member T.Nanda Kumar today said the possible casualties have been estimated keeping in mind the region's vulnerability, growth in population and construction activities.
"We don't want to create panic but we must prepare ourselves and put in place a solid disaster management mechanism to minimise casualties.
Around 1,500 people had died during the 1897 Shillong earthquake but the population and buildings were less then.
An estimated 8.43 lakh people might die if an earthquake between 7 and 8.7 magnitude hits the Northeast today," Kumar said.
Keeping in mind the earthquake vulnerability, the NDMA will assess the disaster management preparedness in all the eight states of the region, including Sikkim, on March 10 and 13 with reference to the 1897 Shillong earthquake.
On March 10, mega mock exercises will be organised in Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim while a similar exercise will be held on March 13 in Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura and Mizoram.
The exercises will discuss issues of preparedness, response mechanism, awareness programmes, rapid visual screening of critical lifeline buildings like hospitals to assess its quake endurability, fire and emergency services, power lines and capacity development initiatives.
"Representatives of almost all government departments, police, army and air force will take part in the exercises and will try to identify the gaps in our preparation.
Based on the assessment during the exercises, disaster management plans at the state and district levels will be evaluated and updated," Kumar said.
The exercises will try to prepare special operating procedures of different departments for better co-ordination and take measures for public awareness.
Apart from the NDMA, the governments of all eight northeastern states, North Eastern Council and CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology will take part in the exercises for detailed evaluation of disaster management preparedness.
The NDMA today organised a sensitisation workshop for newspersons here.
Safety measures in schools would be an important component of the exercises as children are the most vulnerable in case of an earthquake.
"We lost 971 children during the 2001 earthquake in Bhuj while 16,000 children died in the 2005 Muzaffarabad (Pakistan) earthquake due to lack of preparedness.
We must take measures to ensure safety in our schools.
Visual screening of 500 schools and hospitals in Guwahati has been done, many of which require retrofitting solution for structural safety," Kumar said.