Cuttack: Even as the Millennium City and 29 other cities of India figure in the list of danger zones for earthquake, the Ministry of Earth Sciences has planned to conduct a comprehensive survey in these cities to know the possible impact of tremors.
The survey is likely to begin by 2022 and the final report is expected to come by 2024, sources said.
According to sources, the Centre is mulling a plan to safeguard all prominent cities of the country from earthquakes. This is the reason why the Ministry of Earth Sciences has planned to conduct a seismological study in cities like Cuttack, Vijayawada, Patna, Surat, Vadodara, Srinagar, Jammu, Dhanbad, Kochi, Indore, Nasik, Pune, Amritsar, Chennai, Coimbatore, Agra, Varanasi, Meerut, Bareilly and Kolkata.
All these 30 cities would be divided into three zones in accordance with their vulnerability to earthquakes. The survey is supposed to be conducted with technical assistance from the National Centre of Seismology.
It is learnt that the surveyors will conduct multi-channel analysis of surface wave, standard penetration test, cone penetration test and down-hole test to find out the causes of earthquakes.
A group of experts will analyse the final report and suggest measures to deal with any possible tremor. The experts will suggest measures to protect buildings from the earthquakes.
The Centre will issue a guideline for construction of buildings in the quake-prone zones by taking into account the expert panel suggestions. Besides, a guideline will also be issued for civic bodies, public works departments and other agencies involved in the disaster management work to take necessary steps to reduce the impact of earthquakes.
It is worth mentioning here that the Geological Survey of India had conducted a seismological study on Cuttack in 2018. The survey had placed the city, which is located in the Mahanadi delta, in the vulnerable zone for tremors.