The Assam Government is running against time to prepare a Geographic Information System (GIS) map of some of the utility services such as hospitals, school buildings, and police stations across the State, especially after a major earthquake which devastated Nepal a few days ago.
The GIS mapping will enable people and all the agencies associated with the disaster response system to know the utility services and evacuate people according to the need during natural disasters like earthquake, flood or landslide.
“The Assam Government has taken a decision in this regard at a recent meeting chaired by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. We are also going to conduct a survey of the open spaces, particularly in Guwahati, where the people can rush to in case of a devastating earthquake,” said PK Tiwary, Chief Executive Officer of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).
According to a seismic zoning map issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards, there are over 30 cities in India which fall under earthquake zones and Guwahati and Srinagar are the two cities at the highest risk of being devastated by an earthquake. It says that Guwahati and Srinagar fall in ‘very severe intensity zone’, or zone V, the highest-risk earthquake zone.
He said that 18 major utility services will be listed in the GIS mapping to assist people during disasters.
“The earthquake is a reality and we cannot ignore this. We are planning a slew of measures to reduce the impact during such situations,” he said adding that a portal will be created with the help of GIS mapping.
“We are in touch with the North East Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST), an ISRO-supported agency based in Meghalaya capital Shillong over this,” he said.
After the quake in Nepal, the Assam Government had also asked the districts to check their preparedness and asked them to create a contingency plans in case of an earthquake.
It may be mentioned here that a total of 152 persons from Assam have been trapped in Nepal after the quake on April 25. While seven women from Assam lost their lives during the tremor, 126 others trapped in the country had already been brought to the State.
Six bodies of those killed in Nepal had also been brought to Assam and ASDMA officials said that the remaining body will also be brought soon. 18 persons are still in Nepal and the search is on for another missing person.