REPUBLIC QUAKED

How can a region officially recognised as the most earthquake prone be so helpless when it strikes? 

- RICHARD MAHAPATRA

THE GUJARAT earthquake has proved that even in highly seismic zones like Bhuj, Uttarakhand and the Northeast, our preparedness management and crisis is a monumental failure. Bhuj is one of the 13 hotspots on India's seismic hazard map that was prepared three years ago. The assessment was that Bhuj might experience earthquake with a maximum magnitude of 8.5 in 50 years. The assessment never got incorporated into the nation's crisis management programme.

"We are a nation with a casual attitude," says V K Gaur, a renowned seismologist with the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore (now Bengaluru).