15 Odisha districts classified as earthquake zone

Bhubaneswar: As many as 15 districts have been classified as the moderate earthquake zone in Odisha, the Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Sudam Marndi informed the House today.

As per the Earthquake Hazard of Zoning Atlas of India (2016) report published by Centre’s National Disaster Management Authority Building Materials & Technology Promotion Council under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, 15 districts in Odisha come under Zone-III (moderate intensity zone) category, he stated.

The districts include Puri, Khordha, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Jajpur, Dhenkanal, Angul, Deogarh, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Sundargarh, Balasore and Mayurbhanj.

The remaining districts in the state have been identified as the state’s earthquake Zone-II (low damage risk zone).

Replying to a question asked by Jeypore MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati on initiatives taken by the government to deal with possible disasters in areas prone to earthquakes in Odisha, the minister said that public awareness programmes and several training sessions have been organised in schools under Urban Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction Programme (UEVRP) in different urban areas of the state. The engineers of various departments and master masons have been given training on earthquake-resistant construction.

This apart, the students are being taught about earthquake in primary schools by including the subject in their curriculum, the minister stated.