Tragic earthquake-A wake-up call
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: January 05 2016 -
Indeed this is catastrophic, tragic and unprecedented. Secen people have been killed and hundreds of structures have been either damaged or destroyed.
Of course we are talking about the devastating earthquake which jolted the entire North East region in the wee hours today with its epicentre at Tamenglong.
The casualty is not as catastrophic as the Nepal or Gujarat earthquakes if one examines it in the larger context of India and the Indian sub-continent.
The casualty figure of last year's Nepal earthquake stood above 8000 while more than 19,000 people were killed in Gujarat in 2001 when a devastating earthquake rocked Bhuj region of the western Indian coastal State.
The Nepal earthquake measured 7.3 on Richter's Scale and the Bhuj tremor recorded 7.7 on Richter's Scale.
The tremor that shook the North East region this morning recorded 6.8 on Richter's scale.
Though the magnitude was a little lesser, the tremor was felt so profoundly in the entire State of Manipur like never before.
No earthquake in the past produced such devastating impacts in the modern history of Manipur.
If one examines the degree of casualty in the context of Manipur alone, it is quite huge and unprecedented.
For the first time in the modern history of Manipur, seven people have been killed by earthquake and scores injured.
It is a known fact that Manipur and the entire North East region is located in a highly active seismic zone which means earthquakes can occur anytime.
The sad part is, human inventory is still not innovative enough to avoid or prevent earthquakes.
Nonetheless, like other natural phenomena like floods, droughts, landslides etc, the impacts of earthquakes can be certainly mitigated.
Now seven precious lives have been lost. One moot question arises here.
Could we have avoided such a fatal casualty? We know this is a difficult poser.
Yet, all the people and the State need to ask themselves this question and introspect on mitigating the impacts of natural disasters as far as possible.
Construction of private buildings, houses and other structures is of course a private matter yet it cannot be left to the wisdom of private individuals alone.
It is in this line that municipal by-laws for construction of buildings were enacted.
But how strictly these by-laws are implemented in Imphal city remains highly questionable.
If the devastating Majorkhul inferno of June 24, 2014 was any indication, implementation of by-laws regarding construction of buildings in Imphal is far from desirable.
Unlike private buildings/structures, construction of public buildings like offices, hospitals and markets is entirely in the hands of the Government.
Accountability and responsibility should be the hallmark of a welfare State but whether a welfare State exists in modern Manipur or not is anybody's guess.
Out of hundreds of structures either damaged or destroyed, certain portions of two Nupi Keithels of Khwairamband market have broken down at the impact of the earthquake while the third Nupi Keithel got cracked.
Now the women vendors are furious. Apart from manhandling an engineer, they are already demanding compensation from Simplex company which constructed the multi-storeyed market complexes.
Their wrath is understandable because the casualty could have been much higher had the earthquake occurred during day time and the markets collapsed over them.
The vendors' argument that many much older buildings could withstand the tremor while the two modern buildings constructed only recently broke down. This point merits serious analysis.
We are not technical experts to point out technical and other defects, if there is any, in the construction process of the three markets.
At the same time, Simplex company's reputation is not at all impeccable.
One of the market complexes developed cracks just one year after they were inaugurated amidst much fanfare by AICC Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on November 14, 2010.
If the tragic earthquake evokes SOS messages from worried citizens, it is a wake-up call for the State. Our sincere condolences go to all the bereaved families.
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