The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Chennai no longer in the comfort zone

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 28, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Chennai no longer in the comfort zone

By Ramya Kannan

CHENNAI, DEC. 27. While much of Sunday's damage was caused by the tsunami, Chennai and other parts of coastal Tamil Nadu felt the tremors, which preceded the disaster at sea.

The Meteorological department recorded the tremors, around 6-30 a.m., at the same time 8.9 was recorded on the Richter scale at Aceh, off Sumatra in Indonesia. Though the Tamil Nadu areas felt only mild tremors — as they were not in the epicentre of the quake — that caused buildings to shake briefly, Sunday's experience has shown the need for a disaster management plan being in place.

The seismic hazard map of India, revised by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), showed that more areas of Tamil Nadu were susceptible to damage from earthquakes than were previously thought to be.

Satellite images show "fault lines" running through Tamil Nadu and cracks under the plateau. The "status" of Chennai along with major towns on the eastern coast in terms of vulnerability has increased. Especially after Chennai experienced tremors in September 2001 following a quake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale off the Pondicherry coast.

The city, formerly in the comfort Zone II, has now shifted to Zone III — indicating higher seismic activity. According to this mapping, districts in the western part along the border with Kerala are also in Zone III, along with districts along the border of Andhra Pradesh and a section of the border with Karnataka.

The Other districts, which have now moved to Zone III, are Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, the Nilgiris, Kanyakumari, Coimbatore and parts of Salem, Vellore, Dharmapuri, Namakkal, Krishnagiri and Tirunelveli.

UNDP support

As one of the most disaster-prone countries, India has one of the largest programmes in disaster management. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been supporting the initiatives of the Central and State governments to strengthen disaster-management capacities for nearly a decade. In 1996, the UNDP approved a project to strengthen the National Centre for Disaster Management, established at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, to train government officers and trainers of the Disaster Management Cells in the State Institutes of Public Administration.

The Government of India-UNDP National Disaster Risk Management Programme (2002-2007) aims at reducing the vulnerability of communities at risk to sudden disasters in 169 of the most multihazard prone districts spread over 17 States — Gujarat, Orissa, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Assam, Meghalaya, Sikkim and five northeastern States.

One of the components of the programme focusses on Urban Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction in the capitals of seven northeastern States, 38 cities in seismic zones III, IV or V (including Chennai and Coimbatore) and 250 urban centres located in multihazard prone regions.

While personnel training has begun, identification of the earthquake resistance of buildings is on in Chennai and Coimbatore. The project will also examine how the structural stability of buildings can be enhanced at an "affordable cost," officials say. The Collectors head the disaster management team in their regions, working on a blueprint for immediate response.

The other activities outlined in the project are identifying and networking with nodal agencies and partners at different levels, involving the local community and drawing up an inventory of resources available to handle the crisis.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu

News Update

Stories in this Section

Port Trust limping back to normality

Was relief delayed?

Chennai no longer in the comfort zone

It's not calm after the storm

Pall of gloom descends over fishing hamlets

`Trifling with regulations proved costly'

Toll rises to 151

History-sheeter shot dead

Wall to be constructed along coastline

Around the City

In Chennai Today