DP-Index-sep07-lead9
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A section of
DOCPOST which is an
extract, executive
summary, index
rolled into one.
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DISASTER
MANAGEMENT
Infrastructure
such as flyovers and buildings need to comply with building guidelines
prescribed by the National Disaster Management Authority
(NDMA)
from the Eleventh Five Year Plan period. The State Governments
were asked to constitute State Disaster Management
Authorities.
The
functions of the Authorities would include
checking if the respective Metropolitan
Development Authorities made
compliance to earthquake
resistant building codes mandatory and
if banks linked
grant of housing loans to similar
norms.
The Hindu, Madras, 27
Sep 2007
Disaster mock drill shows up drawbacks
A
surprise mock
drill organised in Navi Mumbai, under
the United Nations Development
Programme
(UNDP), has exposed a few drawbacks in
disaster management
skills of various departments.
A make-believe accident was created near the Uran
Phata area,involving
the collision of a public transport bus and a
huge gas tanker
carrying hazardous chemical gas at 2.20 p.m.
The CBD fire brigade was the first to respond by
reaching the spot at 2.28 pm.
"However, we found that the
firemen were not properly trained
to handle the potentially dangerous situation in
case of the
poisonous gas leak".
Traffic police reached the spot a spot a good 25
minutes later at 2.45 p.m, while the
CBD police came even later at
2.55 p.m.
The
Times of India, Bombay, 28 Sep
2007.
Seeds of
Bengal
Tsunami
A
study by
senior seismologist Phil Cummins from
Australia suggests
that the crustal fracture stretching from the
northern Andaman
trench to the northern tip of the Bay of
Bengal is capable of triggering
tsunamigenic earthquakes.
"The
impression until now has been that this
segment of the Indo-Burmese plate is
not active. The key issue is
where is the strain
building up".
G S Mudur,
The
Telegraph,
Calcutta, 06 Sep 2007
Andamans
continue to bear tsunami push
Scientists
said the aftermath of the earthquake that
caused the 2004 disaster is
still pushing around land mass in
the Andamans
region. The capital Port Blair, which was
pushed more
than three metres.
Neelesh
Misra, The Hindustan
Times,
New Delhi, 14 Sep 2007
7
seismometers
installed, 8 more
to follow
The
Karnataka
State Natural Disaster Monitoring
Centre (NDMC)
has started putting in place a mechanism for
measurement of micro tremors in
the State.
This network of seismometers in the State in the
long run can
contribute to pinpointing vulnerable areas with
reference to tremors, and
therefore awareness can be created among
residents of
those particular areas about
Sandhya
Divakaran
,The Deccan Herald,
Bangalore,
03 Sep 2007
Seismic
vulnerability
of buildings in Chennai
Existing
buildings can be made safe by retrofitting at a
marginal cost, hence no need to
panic. Seismic activity in the
recent past has occurred in clusters along the
borders with
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala.
Several faults have been
identified in this region out of which a
few show evidence
of movement.
A R
Santhakumar,
The Hindu, Madras,
22
Sep 2007.
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