Letter from the Editor-In-Chief
Dear friends,
October 2011
By the time this issue of Eastern Panorama is in your hands, many of you will be in a festive mood, celebrating the festivals of the season. But for Sikkim the Shangrila of the East, the story is altogether different. The recent earthquake in Sikkim has brought tremendous misery, destruction of property, loss of lives to the people of Sikkim.
Rightly, the relief measures were initiated under the able leadership of Mr. Pawan Chamling, Chief Minister of Sikkim. The tentative details compiled by the State Government indicate that 14,994 houses have been fully damaged, 17,788 partially damaged, 1582 mildly damaged and 5327 houses have been severely damaged in the whole of Sikkim. This damage only indicates the magnitude of the damage that has been caused by the natural disaster.
Earthquakes can come at anytime and strike anywhere and no scientific means is available to predict the occurrence of an earthquake. What is being predicted is totally based on statistical data. Hence in circumstances like this the region particularly those areas which fall in high seismic zones need to develop technologies to build houses and other institutions in line with the countries having similar problems. Japan is one such country where earthquakes occur very frequently. However, there, damage is kept to a minimal because of the technology developed by them in the construction of buildings.
It may be appropriate to mention here that the entire North-East extending from the Hindu Kush region of North West India to Arakan Yoma in the east is a seismically active region with complex geological formation. In the last 30 years 640 earthquakes of various magnitudes were felt in the North-Eastern Region.
This earthquake also reminds us of the Shillong earthquake of 12th June, 1987 which caused extensive damage in the region. To freshen the memories of our readers, we have brought out a special feature in this issue, the North-East earthquake an eye opener with rare photographs of those days.
Whenever there is a natural disaster, the blame game process starts. Sikkim is no exception. In Sikkim a group of people link this earthquake with the large number of hydel projects along the river Teesta that are being constructed. The Chief Minister of the Himalayan state has rejected the theory outright and cited the example of Canada and Switzerland where a large number of hydel power project s are being run.
Interestingly Sikkim will have 31 hydel projects along the river Teesta by 2015 and they are expected to generate Rs. 1500 crore annually.
Leaving the speculation on whether hydel projects have any impact on earthquake or not aside to experts, we believe that Sikkim and other Northeastern states need to stress more on quake proof mechanisms and disaster management of the highest level. Well preparedness and well tested technology are the need of the hour.