'Sleep easy. No quake on its way !

Rajinder Nagarkoti, TNN, Sep 14, 2010 ;

PANCHKULA: If one goes by the claims of Panchkula administration, there is no need for disaster management plan in the district. The administrators reason that as no quake has struck the area in the past, there is no reason it would do so in the future. If this is not absurd enough, the administration has similar feelings when it comes to floods.

This shocking bit forms part of a reply submitted by the Panchkula district administration for a query submitted under Right to Information Act by an advocate.

Panchkula-based lawyer Ravi Verma had filed an RTI application in which he sought to know about the disaster management plan of district administration. 'I received a reply a few days ago, and it was shocking. The district administration stated that neither earthquake nor flood could strike Panchkula.

They had claimed that Panchkula was a safe district and there was no requirement for disaster management,' he said. Panchkula DC Ashima Brar said on checking the matter, she came to know that the naib tehsildar had prepared the reply.

'The official mustn't have done so without consulting other senior officers and the administration will ensure such a thing never happens again,' she added.

Interestingly, the district is in a region where earthquakes of moderate to high intensity have been felt in the past. Being situated in Himalayan boundary fault zones, it is prone to tremors but district administration seems to have ignored this fact.

Recently, the administration had marked an inquiry to irrigation department to submit a report about the house that collapsed in Bir Ghaggar on the banks of Ghaggar River after the flash floods.

The government had also issued Rs 2.5 crore for the protection of this area.