Surveyor General admits damage can’t be assessed accurately

News from the Epicentre

» Full coverage of the Gujarat earthquake
» Donate online for relief

The NGDI is expected to provide clues on every aspect of disaster management, from urban planning to water and power supply, transport and drainage systems and a host of other related issues concerning the population.

Apart from being the nodal agency collecting data from the various governmental and non-governmental agencies, the NGDI has been given a mandate to standardise data and create a data sharing format, metadata concepts and finally give the legal frameworks.

Over the next six months, the NGDI will have to make available the accumulated scientific information to users — the scientists and the seismologists — to undertake further studies.

“The data will be put on the internet for the users in the next six months,” the Surveyor General of India, A.K. Ahuja said, adding that a two-day workshop is being organised from Monday to address the need and explain the modalities of NGDI in the Indian context.

“At present, the data has to be compiled from various agencies and state governments and the exercise is time consuming. The NGDI will help in creating a monolithic base for accessing data. With the latest technology, it is possible to detect plate movement, measure gravity and carry out tidal measurement,” Ahuja added.

Meanwhile, a small committee of expert seismologists has been hurriedly sent to collect date and prepare a scientific document on the Gujarat quake. “It is easy to accuse the Government, but the fact is that the Government does not have sufficient funds to undertake a detailed seismological study,” a senior official in the concerned department protested.

Taking into account the lack of resources and the lack of coordination between the Government organisations which has resulted in a dispute over the exact measure of the quake, the team has been asked to strictly follow a three-pronged strategy.

To begin with, the committee will have to prepare a preliminary report based field data, followed by a more detailed scientific document. “We do it all the time. We produced a document after Latur, after Chamoli. This time also, we will bring out a scientific document,” G.D Gupta, additional secretary, DST, said in a matter-of-fact manner.