Sir — This refers to the editorial, “The tragedy and after” (April 28). Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s exemplary swiftness in rushing men and material for relief operations in earthquake-devastated Nepal and in the quake-affected States within the country has come in for justified praise. The Indian Air Force and the National Disaster Response Force personnel have done a commendable job. The Modi Government’s effective handling of the Kashmir floods, the Yemen crisis, and now the Nepal earthquake situation, shows that our crisis management machinery is better geared up and more capable of handling calamities.
The editorial has rightly pointed out that most of our constructions have not taken into adequate account the possibility of earthquakes. There has been mushrooming growth of high-rise commercial and residential buildings in towns and cities. Keeping in view the non-compliance of building code norms, faulty design and poor quality of construction, most of the buildings may not be quake-resistant. It is beyond imagination what can happen to cities like Delhi and Mumbai in case a quake of intensity of 7.9 or more hits them.