U'khand highly vulnerable, says new seismic map

THE Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has issued a new seismic map, placing the entire Uttarakhand, including its plains and mountainous regions, into Seismic Zone 6—the highest category for earthquake vulnerability.

- NARENDRA SETHI @ Dehradun

This drastic revision supersedes the previous classification, which had divided the state between Zone 4 and Zone 5. The new classification signals that any future seismic event could cause uniform, high-level damage across all parts of Uttarakhand.

The shift mandates a complete overhaul of infrastructure development policies, as the state must now adhere to stringent, unified building codes. An officer familiar with the development strategy said, “The implication of being placed entirely in Zone 6 is that infrastructure damage, should an earthquake strike, will be uniform across every region.”