State still ill-prepared for major earthquake, warn officials

Guwahati, Apr 9: The devastating earthquake in Myanmar, which resulted in the death of more than 3,600 persons, raises the question of whether Assam, which falls under Zone V of the seismic map of India, is prepared to face such an eventuality. The answer is no. Till today, the State is not at all prepared to face any such eventuality, even though the State has a history of facing mega quakes.

Official sources admitted before The Assam Tribune that some baby steps have been taken in earthquake damage mitigation, but so far, not enough has been done. Concerted efforts should be made by all the concerned departments to prepare the state to face any such eventuality.

It is often said that earthquakes do not kill, but poor buildings do. Keeping that in mind, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) carried out a study of the high-rise buildings of Guwahati city in 2017, and some buildings were found to be weak. However, no follow-up action was taken by the concerned departments.

With the slopes of the hills in Guwahati encroached, they have become vulnerable to landslides. In case of a major quake, the possibility of massive landslides cannot be ruled out.

A few years back, around 366 vulnerable slopes were identified, and a proposal was mooted to work for slope stabilisation. Due to ongoing encroachments, the number of vulnerable slopes has likely increased over the years. But no action has been taken as yet to evict the encroachers and stabilise the hillslopes to prevent landslides.

The ASDMA has been carrying out mock drills in schools and colleges from time to time. But official sources alleged that the inmates of most of the high-rise apartment buildings did not cooperate, and that is why mock drills could not be carried out in those buildings. However, in recent times, the ASDMA has started to take some steps. A map of open spaces in towns and cities to provide shelter to people in case of a major earthquake was prepared a few years back. After the Myanmar quake, the authority has decided to reverify whether the open spaces still exist. Moreover, the ASDMA has decided to do a mapping of the open spaces in all the districts and subdivisions of the state.

Sources said that steps have been initiated to identify the persons who can supply tents and other materials like food items, medicines, etc., on short notice. An inventory of the rescue materials, including cutters available in each district, is also being prepared, and it will take a couple of months to complete the process.