Date:15/02/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/02/15/stories/2005021502731700.htm

Back Vizag ideal for tsunami warning centre: Expert

Our Bureau

Visakhapatnam , Feb. 14

VISAKHAPATNAM is ideally suited for setting up the proposed tsunami warning centre, as it is situated midway between Chennai and Kolkata on the East coast, according to Prof. T.S Murthy, an international expert on tsunami warning systems based in Canada.

A professor in the Natural Resources Institute, the University of Manitoba, Canada, Prof Murthy is looking after the research and scientific aspects of the Canadian tsunami warning system. He was a student of the Andhra University here in the fifties.

He said at a press meet here in the Andhra University on Monday that he was currently on a visit to the country to advise the Union Government on the tsunami warning system.

"The Union Government seems to be keen on setting up such a system, as Mr Kapil Sibal has already announced an initial allocation of Rs 150 crore for the purpose. The preliminary meeting was in New Delhi in January with scientists, researchers and administrators.

Two more meetings will be held later this month - one in New Delhi on February 17 and 18 and the other in Goa on February 18 and 19. The New Delhi meeting will focus on communications relating to tsunami, and in Goa the computer modelling systems will be discussed,'' he said, and added that he would participate in both the meetings.

Prof Murthy said the cost of setting up a tsunami warning system would by no means be prohibitive and the technical knowhow was available within India.

"What is required is a concerted, co-operative effort by the 37 countries in the Indian Ocean region. India is taking the lead, but the others should co-operate,'' he said.

Prof Murthy cited four possible reasons for the occurrence of tsunami — earthquakes in the ocean, volcanic eruptions, submarine landslides and large-scale nuclear explosions in the water. On the speculation that unusual lunar activity might also cause a tsunami, he said that till now no such co-relation had been observed.

He said the Pacific Ocean region was more prone to tsunamis than the Indian Ocean region, but in view of the recent experience the setting up of a warning system should not be postponed.

To make it cost-effecitve, he suggested the setting up of an integrated marine hazard warning system.