 "Captain Abhimanyu")
Gurgaon on Monday witnessed the NCR's first installation of an onsite Early Earthquake Warning System at the premises of Haryana Institute of Public Administration (HIPA), Sector 18, Gurgaon.
Captain Abhimanyu Sindhu, the state's Minister for Finance, and Revenue and Disaster Management, inaugurated the first-of-its-kind system and presented a live demonstration of the technology, along with Juegan Przybylak, Managing Director, Secty Electronics GmbH (Germany), who came all the way from Germany to install the technology at HIPA premises.
Bijender Goel, Managing Director, Terra Techcom, SP Gupta, Director General, HIPA, Anil Sinha from Bihar Disastor Management Authority, and experts from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) were also present at the occasion.
The live demonstration of Onsite Early Earthquake Warning System showcased application of the technology by creating artificial earthquake waves on a table. As soon as the system detected primary waves of more than magnitude 5 on the Richter scale, it raised an alarm and switched off the electricity, water supply, elevators etc. and puts on the emergency lights in HIPA premises. Over 150 people present in the premises witnessed the live demonstration of the technology.
"The installation at HIPA will help district officials, industrialists, private developers and companies to know about the benefits of the technology in a better manner. The technology gives warning a few seconds before a high-intensity earthquake strikes. In case of an earthquake, even 30 seconds is a lot of time to go to a safer place. It can save millions of lives. It is a matter of pride Haryana takes a lead in installing the world's leading German technology in the field of disaster management," said Captain Abhimanyu Sindhu, Honorable Minister for Finance, and Revenue and Disaster Management, Government of Haryana.
"The objective of installing the technology in HIPA premises is to spread awareness. The technology not only helps save lives in case of earthquake, but also switches of electricity, water connection, elevators, and gas pipeline that evades possibility of any mishap. It is the dedication and immediate response of the Honorable Chief Minister Shri Manohar Lal Khattar and Honorable Minister for Finance, and Revenue and Disaster Management, Captain Abhimanyu Sindhu. As Gurgaon, Delhi and most parts of South Haryana fall in Seismic Zone 4, Chief Minister was willing to implement the technology in the area," says SP Gupta, Director General, HIPA.
Talking about advantages of the technology at the conference, Chandan Ghosh, Head of the Geo-Hazard Risk Management Division from National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), said, "It is the only technology available in the world to differentiate Primary waves and Secondary waves in case of an earthquake. There is no technology to predict the earthquake. However, with the help of this technology, we get early warning in case of an earthquake, which can save thousands of lives and property worth million of rupees. Moreover, the technology has already been tested in various countries including Germany, US, India and many more."
Interestingly, the technology installed in Gurgaon can help Delhi to a great extent. "Gurgaon is close to Sohna faultline. If earthquake strikes the area, Delhi, located about 40 kilometers away from Gurgaon, can get warning a few seconds before the earthquake strikes the national capital," says Ghosh.
Early Earthquake Warning and Security System, introduced by the German firm, Secty Electronics in collaboration with GFZ, has been brought to India by their Indian partners, Terra Techcom Pvt. Ltd. The technology is installed on foundation pillars of a building, after measuring and studying the layout of the building. The system is capable of detecting the intensity of an earthquake and differentiating between primary waves and secondary waves. The technology alerts as soon as the primary waves strike an area so that people get some time before secondary waves (actual earthquake) hits the area.
"It took GFZ (German Research Centre for Geosciences), 100 years of study, research and data collection to develop an algorithm to give early earthquake warnings. The algorithm has been programmed into software by Secty Electronics GmbH. We are glad to introduce the technology in India," says Juergen Przybylak, Managing Director, Secty Electronics (Germany).
"This is much needed technology in India, especially in areas that are at high risk seismic zones. When I came to know about the technology for the first time, I thought 30 seconds wouldn't be enough to protect anyone in case of earthquake. However, when I studied about the technology and got to know that it is being used in so many countries successfully, I decided to bring it to my country. I am glad that Haryana government was so prompt to get the technology installed," said Bijender Goel, Managing Director, Terra Techcom Pvt. Ltd. He suggested that the authorities should come up with a different alarm for earthquake alarms and spread awareness about the potential threat of earthquake.
He further adds, "This is a historic moment for India for taking a lead in ensuring the safety of its people. I congratulate the government of India and the team of HIPA for setting an example to follow for 100 countries of the world which do not have any safety provision against this natural disaster."
Besides raising alarm to warn people before earthquake strikes, it also shuts down gas pipeline, park elevator at safest position, switches off electricity supply and put it on power back up, shut off water supply, saves crucial data, open emergency exits among many other safety measures. It is the world's only early earthquake warning system that can even be connected to the Building Management System.
The technology has its applications in government establishments, dams, bridges/ national highways, tunnels, airbases, chemical plants, highly sensitive laboratories / installations, nuclear / power stations, multi-storey buildings, shopping malls, cinemas, metro railways, urban / rural areas etc.
The most immediate warning time of the system was 30 seconds in Chile 2010. The device has not given any false alarm since its first installation in 2006. The technology has also won "WIN Award" of United Kingdom for best innovation product in 2006. No false alarm has been given by our system since 2006 of its first installation.
The technology is patented in 5 countries namely USA, Japan, European Union, Turkey and Iran, and has been developed in collaboration with German Geo Research Centre (GFZ), Potsdam, Germany.
The technology has been successfully tested internationally by many reputed institutes including Sharif University of Tehran (Iran) and National Observatory of Athens (Greece), Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung BAM (Germany), TUV Rheinland (Germany) and recently tested in India too by CSIR- Structural Engineering Research Center (SERC), Chennai.
The system is successfully working in 26 countries India, USA, Germany, Chile, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran, China, Mexico etc. and proved itself by saving the life of hundreds of people. Our list of prestigious clients includes Audi, Goodyear, Ford, Bosch, Honeywell, Hilton, Siemens, Schindler, Bayer, Continental Group of Hotels and foreign governments.
