Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

‘State multi-hazard-prone’

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The vulnerability of the State to various types of natural disasters has been chronicled in a study conducted by the city-based Institute of Land and Disaster Management.

Starting from moderate intensity earthquakes and landslides to flood, tsunami and biological disasters, Kerala appears to be the epicentre of disasters. The State is classified as ‘multi-hazard prone’ by the Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council, an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation working towards the promotion of cost-effective, environment friendly and disaster resistant building materials and technologies.

As per the earthquake vulnerability map prepared by the council, the State falls under Zone III, where moderate intensity earthquakes are likely. The risk factor means Thiruvananthapuram has the potential to witness an earthquake with an intensity of 6.5 on the Richter scale, similar to the one that shook Latur. The energy released during such an earthquake will be equivalent to that of the atom bomb dropped in Hiroshima during the Second World War, the study warns.

If that leaves you numb, here are a few more spine-chilling statistical prognoses. Nearly 96.9 per cent of the State falls in the cyclone zone, with wind packing a speed of 140 to 158 km/hr likely to hit the coasts. Around 16,000 sq km of the State is vulnerable to landslips while 14.8 percent of the total land area is prone to flood.

However, what should be of concern to people living along the coastal area, around 16 per cent of the population, of the State is their vulnerability to tsunami waves, since most of the low lands in the State are having an altitude of only 4-6 m.

In addition to natural calamities are the man-made disasters such as road, railway and boat accidents. Monetary loss due to road accidents in 2004 alone was estimated at Rs.453.78 crore, around 1.5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product of the State. The study also notes that the very high density of population makes the State all the more vulnerable to disasters. Biological disasters such as pest attacks and epidemics such as malaria, dengue and Weil’s disease are also causing heavy damage. For instance, as many as 132 persons died due to Weil’s disease and 171 persons due to malaria in 2003, the study notes.

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

Stories in this Section

Lavalin: Chandy flays CPI(M) decision
Teesta slams both fronts for links with fundamentalists
‘No legal validity for AG’s advice’
No cases with swine flu symptoms
French tourist attacked on Varkala beach
State to help make Pattanam heritage site
‘State multi-hazard-prone’
Young innovators take centre stage
Arches: Ombudsman orders probe
Snakeman returns
Swine flu: 213 screened at airport

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu