NEW DELHI, FEB 2: A day after government decided to impose two per cent additional surcharge on income and corporate taxes for rebuilding quake hit Gujarat, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today hinted at a fresh dose of moderate taxes and non-tax measures to mop up resources."Two per cent additional surcharge (on income and corporate taxes) is not enough keeping in view the magnitude of the devastation in Gujarat," he told reporters after releasing a weekly journal in Urdu `Secular qayadat'.Asked if the fresh dose of taxes would be heavy, the Prime Minister said "it will not be so... We will also have to devise other ways to mobilise resources to carry out the massive reconstruction and rehabilitation work".The Union cabinet had last night decided to promulgate an ordinance to impose two per cent additional surcharge on income and corporate taxes this year to garner Rs 1300 crore for relief operations."This decision has been taken to share the grief of the quake-stricken people of Gujarat," the Prime Minister said, appealing to people to contribute generously to help the victims.He, however, declined to elaborate how much fund was needed to put Gujarat back on the rails. "I am not in a position to say how much resources are required for this purpose," he said.Vajpayee also said government was formulating measures to ensure safety of buildings in the national capital to enable them withstand major quakes.Meanwhile, three fresh after-shocks, measuring 4.8, 4.2 and 3.6 on the Richter scale, were recorded early today in Bhuj, according to the seismology department of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) here.With this, the total number of after-shocks, recorded following the devastating quake in Gujarat on January 26 with Bhuj as epicentre, was 374, Dr G J Nair, head of the department, told PTI today.An after-shock was recorded at 6.05 am by the seismology division of Indian meteorological department (IMD) here, while BARC recorded three shocks at 3.53 am, 4.02 am and 6.05 am.However, the rate of after-shocks has come down by 40 times, thus reducing the frequency considerably to 0.4 per hour (or 6 events in 15 hours), Nair added.The number of after-shocks was 10 per hour on the first day and the region has stabilised considerably, and since yesterday the rate has came down to 0.4 per hour, he said.BARC's recordings were based on LG waves - most sensitive recordings - and are in conformity with the US Geological Survey (USGS) recordings, Nair said.A task force has been set up by the Gujarat government to assess the damage caused by the devastating earthquake and to prepare a rehabilitation scheme for the affected people.The task force is to be headed by K V Bhanujan, retired finance secretary, Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel told mediapersons here after a three-day extensive tour of the worst-affected areas of Kutch district.Patel apprehended that the toll in the quake could go over 30,000 and said nearly 75,000 houses were damaged either fully or partially.He said so far 15,088 bodies, including 13,582 in Kutch district alone, have been recovered.Many government offices have also been destroyed in the quake, he said, adding temporary arrangements have been made to run the administration.Chief Minister said cash doles and house-hold kits, numbering one lakh, have been distributed among the quake hit people of Kutch and other parts of the state.Patel said Maharashtra government has adopted seven villages of Kutch district for development and reconstruction and would be expending Rs 30 crore on them.
