Gaya DM to seek Disaster Management Deptt help in ascertaining cause of past four Gaya centric tremors

GAYA : Gaya DM Sanjay Agrawal would be seeking assistance of the Disaster Management Deptt of the government to ascertain the cause of the four Gaya centric tremors felt in the past. The IMD officials while acknowledging three of the four tremors, could not ascertain the real reason in the fortnight long study conducted in the year 2008. Recent spate of tremors have revived fears of Gaya centric tremors.According to DM Sanjay Agrawal, he would seek help from the Disaster Management Deptt to ascertain the cause of past tremors having Gaya as its epicentre.
The first Gaya centric tremors was recorded on 17 Feb 1985 with an intensity of 4.7 on the Richter scale. In May-June 2008, three Gaya centric tremors were felt on 30 May, 07 and 09 June that year. Whereas the 30 May 2008 tremor could not be recorded on the Richter scale as the instruments were incapable of recording tremors of less than 3.3 intensity, Gayaites nevertheless felt it.The intensity of the 07 June 2008 tremor was 4.7 and for the 09 June tremor, it was 3.3.
Despite low intensity, 2008 tremors caused some damage as well and the damaged structures included the official residence of the Gaya DM. Sanjay Kumar Singh, the then DM had a close shave as a peel of thick ceiling plaster fell on his bed while the DM was asleep.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar requisitioned the services of AK Shukla, the then Director Earthquake Risk Evaluation centre of the IMD to ascertain the cause of the localised tremors. Shukla conducted a two week long study but the real cause could not be ascertained.
According to Ranjit Verma, Pro VC Patna University and and a conscious Gayaite interested in local Environmental issues, there was a need to revisit the local tremors and ascertain its real cause as without knowing the real cause of Gaya centric local tremors of the past, we can neither prepare an effective strategy nor be in a position to take curative measures.
RK Verma felt that in any future study on Gaya centric tremors, indiscriminate sand mining and stone quarrying aspect has to be included. Though the mechanised sand mining and stone quarrying is bound to cause Ecological imbalance, it is precisely not known if these factors too can cause local tremors, said Verma.
In view of the localised tremors of the past, the need to set up an observatory in Gaya for recording seismic movement is also being strongly felt. The nearest such observatories to record seismic movements are located at Varanasi and Bokaro and both these places are more than 200 Kms away from Gaya.