Quake safety laws may be revised

The ministry of home (civil defence) in the state of West Bengal is considering certain changes that could be made to corporation laws that now restrict the civic body from disapproving a building for not implementing measures for earthquake resistance once it has been announced structurally sound.

Speaking at a seminar on preparedness in disaster management organised by the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Srikumar Mukherjee, minister of state for home (civil defence) department, spoke about the need to make every individual in the state prepared for the times when disaster strikes .

"We have started the community based disaster preparedness programme or CBPD in 2005. We are reaching out to the grass root level of the four-tier panchayat system in the village blocks. So far we have been able to reach four blocks "" two in the south and two in the north of the state. We plan to reach 100 blocks by the end of this year", said Mukherjee.

The minister complained that industrialists in the state were not forthcoming in sharing the safety hazards they faced at their establishments, thereby putting people residing in and around their premises into grave danger.

He said that the idea for a district level disaster management committee would be introduced in the state assembly, while there is also a need for a similar body at the state level.