CHENNAI: Chennai and 15 other cities and towns in the country will soon have real-time seismic and global positioning system (GPS) monitoring network.

B.K. Bansal, Director, Seismology Division, Department of Science and Technology (DST) in the Union Government, told The Hindu on Tuesday:

"The approximate cost of the project is Rs. 12 crores. Tenders have already been floated. We hope to install the network by March next year."

He was here to attend a conference on spatial data infrastructure and its role in disaster management organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Government of India and the PACON (Pacific Congress on Marine Science and Technology), International University of Hawaii, United States.

Dr. Bansal said Hyderabad, Vishakapatnam, Thiruvananthapuram, Pune, Minicoy, Bhuj, Bhopal, Delhi, Shimla and Shillong were among the cities to be covered under the network. Some cities had certain components of the project in place.

It would be implemented through the Meteorological department.

About other initiatives being taken by the DST, Dr. Bansal said the strong motion instrumentation network, which helps in designing codes on quake-resistant buildings, would be made digital. At present, of the 250 such instruments, some were digital.

As part of the upgradation, 350 instruments would be installed, 100 of them by December-end.

Earlier, addressing the conference, Dr. Bansal said 100 schools in the Northeast, Uttaranchal and Sikkim had been identified for a programme of generating awareness among students on quakes.

Harsh K. Gupta, former Secretary of the Department of Ocean Development, said to lessen the damage from earthquakes, building codes prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards should be enforced.

Micro-zonation of important cities of the country should be carried out.

The two-thirds of the population should be educated on simple methods of strengthening their homes.

S.M. Ghouse, consultant, State Land Use Board in the Tamil Nadu Planning Commission, suggested creation of a single-point source of data on cyclones and earthquakes on the lines of the website of the United States Geological Survey.

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