Shri Kapil Sibal calls upon Scientists to devise new measures for Disaster Mitigation and Management Brain storming session on Tsunami opens in New Delhi
	15:34 IST

The Minister for Science & Technoology and Ocean Development, Shri Kapil Sibal has called upon the scientific community to understand and respond to the processes of nature so that human lives are not lost and sufferings due to nature’s fury are reduced. Inaugurating the two-day Brain Storming Session on the Great Tsunami of December 26, 2004, here today, Shri Sibal said that nature will continue to strike us through processes that are part of the evolution and growth of our planet. However, it is the responsibility of the scientific community to understand the phenomenon and devise newer strategies for disaster mitigation and management. Giving a broad picture of Tsunamis across the world, Shri Sibal said that while more than 790 Tsunamis have been recorded in the Pacific Ocean since 1900, the recent Tsunami was just the second to hit India during the same period. The first Tsunami to reach the Indian mainland in the last 100 years occurred in 1941 and it was triggered by an earthquake in the Andaman and Nicobar region. But it was not comparable in its devastating power to what we saw last month. Thus it was only reasonable to believe that the recent Tsunami was the largest to hit the Indian coast since recorded history and in that sense it literally caught us unawares, he said. Referring to the Tsunami Warning System, Shri Sibal said that a sophisticated network is installed in the Pacific Ocean Region. However, it is not fully accurate in its forecasting. The shortcomings may be due to lack of complete understanding of the complexities involved in the earthquake processes and Tsunami generation. Shri Sibal called upon the participants not only to deal with forecasting but also suggest associated measures which should be put in place e.g., information flow from scientists to administrators and the people at large especially in situations where there is power breakdown, supply of ready to use nutritious food, potable water etc. Nearly one hundred scientists and managers, many of them from the field of seismology are taking part in the two-day deliberation. The participants include experts from USA, Canada, France, Russia, Indonesia and the UNESCO. The Session is evaluating the available know how and infrastructure in the country and the setting up of a new infrastructure to tone up our warning capabilities, thereby, helping to mitigate the loss of life and property. The Session is also discussing possibilities of collaborations with international groups having the necessary experience in Tsunami detection and warning. Others who spoke on the occasion included the Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Prof. V.S. Ramamurthy, the President of Indian National Science Academy, Dr. R. A. Mashelkar and the Secretary, Department of Ocean Development, Dr. Harsh Gupta. SK/SPS