New Delhi, October 8
Tremors of the powerful earthquake that rocked the India -Pakistan border region this morning also shook the Capital and its neighbouring areas this morning, causing widespread panic in the national Capital region.

The tremors, felt at about 9.30 am, were intense enough to force residents of high-rise buildings to rush out. The tremors made high-rise buildings sway, forcing residents of multi-storeyed buildings to rush out of their homes in panic. As the powerful shocks continued for nearly 30 seconds, for those living in high-rise buildings it was a scary experience with their homes swaying and plates and glasses flying off the shelves in the kitchen.

Most of the people were still in their homes, enjoying a laid-back Saturday morning at the time of the earthquake.

In Gurgaon, bricks fell off a high-rise building under construction near the GE call centre. Several workers had a narrow escape as they stopped work and fled when the first wave of tremor hit the building.

As per the India Meteorological Department, the intensity of the tremors experienced in Capital and the region were not immediately available.

Even though the epicentre of this earthquake was at least 1,000 km away from the Capital, the tremors experienced in the region were stronger than those during the 2001-Bhuj earthquake. Delhi and its neighbourhood are located in the high seismic activity area and the last earthquake that had its epicentre near Delhi was the 5.8-magnitude Moradabad earthquake in 1966.

In fact, according to experts, the National Capital Territory of Delhi is the most “unsafe” city in the country, not only due to the soil formation, but also due to the vertical encroachment and lack of safety standards.

“Three or four story vertical encroachments coming up in various parts of Delhi like Laxmi Nagar, Kalkaji, Shakarpur and many urban villages in North India were the most unsafe and posed the biggest danger to the city,” said Dr Pradip Chaturvedi, chairman, safety and quality forum of Institute of Engineers.

Areas with soft, wet soils experience liquefaction intensifying earthquake damage, when soils behave like fluids; anything on top can sink, and liquified soil may itself flow towards lower ground like a mudslide. In Delhi, the trans-Yamuna area typifies this and the entire area is susceptible to widespread damage in a major earthquake, especially since no special earthquake-resistant construction has been undertaken here.

Most of these vertical encroachments had three-inch wide walls, which could collapse any time with small tremors experienced in Delhi, eventhough the epicentre was several hundred kilometres away, the forum said.

With the Capital being in the high earthquake risk category, he said the collapse of numerous illegal buildings would make rescue work difficult. The most vulnerable were the buildings with parking on the ground floor.

More than 40 per cent of the buildings in Delhi were unauthorised, their poor quality construction was the biggest danger, and many violate the building norms, said the experts representing prestigious engineering body in the country.

Chaturvedi said the architectural design parameters should lay emphasis on insulation day light utilisation, natural ventilation, shielding, acoustics, window area and its disposition. The design forces related to earthquake, landslide, water waves and tensional effects due to wind should be included in the section pertaining to design load. This will make the buildings safe and livable.

Most of the Himalayan and sub-Himalayan region, Delhi with its surrounding areas and pockets of Gujarat are in Zone-IV. Within India, certain regions are known to be more seismically active than others, these regions being divided into 5 zones, Zone-V being the most earthquake-prone and Zone-1 the least.

What makes the Himalayan region quake-prone is that the Indian continent is moving north, and it is colliding with the Eurasian continent, and that results in the subsequent uplift of the Himalayan mountains and the Tibetan plateau. The movement gives rise to accumulation of stress. As it exceeds the bearing capacity of the rocks, quakes occur due to rock-slippage.

The surface of the Earth is divided into seven major moving tectonic plates. Until about 100 million years ago, the Indo-Australian and Eurasian plates were partly separated by the so-called Tethys Sea.

The two plates first collided about 60 million years ago. The collision is a slow-motion one - the two plates are converging on each other at a rate of about 2 inches a year - but the energies are colossal. As a result, the Himalayas are still rising. Satellite measurements put their ascent at about five millimetres per year.

New Delhi, October 8
How safe is Delhi when it comes to earthquakes? Experts are of the opinion that Delhi falls under “high seismic category”. In fact, in terms of seismic activity, the Capital is currently classified under Zone IV and is likely to be upgraded to being a Zone V category area, which is maximum in seismicity and thus falls under “high risk territory”.

Dr D.K. Chadha, president with Global Hydrogeological Solutions and former chairman of the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), informs that “the threat to Delhi as far as earthquake is concerned is largely due to the saline water ingress in the western and northern Delhi region.”

Dr Chadha stresses that when saline water level fall within the critical 4m depth there is the danger of liquifaction occurring, which would be very damaging during an earthquake.

The damage would be maximum in areas lying on fault planes that could trigger an earthquake. The national Capital is crisscrossed by major faults like the Sohna fault, the Mathura fault and the Muradabad fault. Increasing level of saline water in these areas is highly dangerous and can cause high intensity earthquakes. Geologists assert that the comparatively safe areas in Delhi are located on the hard rock formations.

The high-risk zones include areas located on deeper alluvium. Thus, areas such as the Naraina-Patel road and the Yamuna river bed section, with deep alluvium of up to the depth of 200 m are very susceptible to major damage.

Dwarka, where saline groundwater is present at shallow depth, is another high-risk area. The risk of damage due to liquifaction is higher in areas along the river Yamuna, said the expert. These areas have high water content, which loose their strength and flow during an earthquake.

The Delhi University is another high-risk area, as it is located on a major fault, said Dr Chadha.

What further complicates the situation and adds to the threat are high-rise buildings, sub-standard and unplanned structures that have mushroomed all over Delhi and have been built without any consideration of earthquake resistance.

Multi-storied buildings with foundations in alluvium sediment are prone to high damages in case of an earthquake, if seismic parameters have not been considered.

What has saved Delhi from serious earthquakes so far has been the low-level of salinity in ground water and controlled liquifaction. However, with increasing salinity in the groundwater Delhi’s “populace faces a high-level of threat”. The only solution is to control the increasing salinity, increasing liquifaction and to build structures in the city that are compatible with seismicity, said Dr Chadha.

New Delhi, October 8
The Delhi Metro did not suffer any damage to its property due to the earthquake that rocked the region this morning.

According to the Delhi Metro CPRO Anuj Dayal, all Delhi Metro stations, elevated structures and underground tunnels are built with sufficient strength to endure maximum stress and strain in any eventuality including earthquake.

All structures of the Delhi Metro project were designed to take care of additional forces, which may occur in the event of an earthquake, he said.

For this, relevant Indian standard codes and other international codes are being followed. From the earthquake proneness considerations the whole of India is divided into five zones with the zone V being the most active. Delhi falls in zone IV.

The section from Vishwavidyalaya to Central Secretariat is fully underground, therefore additional measures have been taken for this line to avoid any eventuality in the event of a major earthquake. The design parameters on this line are much more stringent than Indian standard codes.

The designed life of the Metro structure is expected to be at least 100 years and to ensure this, best quality of cement, aggregate, metal have been used and regular quality monitoring have been done during the construction stage.

Greater Noida, October 8
Preparations for block, district panchayat elections seem to have started in right earnest in the district. Candidates for Bisarakh Block Panchayat nominations came with such a large number of vehicles for their supporters to file their nomination that the Bhangel-Surajpur road in Greater Noida was literally jammed for almost six hours. There was a continuous stream of vehicles moving at a snail’s pace in the bumper-to-bumper convey.

Surprisingly, not a single traffic cop was deployed there to regulate the traffic, throwing the normal traffic of daily commuters and commercial vehicles haywire in this busy road in the industrial belt.

Negotiating a 10-km-long section on this road from Bhangel to district headquarters in Surajpur took up to six hours.

Friday witnessed the maximum movement in connection with the district panchayat elections. About three dozen candidates from Bisarakh Block had filed their nomination from wards nos. 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. Each candidate was out to show his strength and the number of supporters’ vehicle was considered as its reflection.

If anybody tried to overtake the supporters’ vehicles in candidates’ convoy, he was rebuked and insulted.

The illegal hooters on the vehicles created an atmosphere of fear.

There was sufficient police bandobast at the Collectorate but en route people were left to fend for themselves. Extraordinary rush from 11 am to 4 pm had resulted in many fisticuffs on the road.

Gurgaon, October 8
Little did Major J. K. Bhalla (retd) realise at the time of making post-retirement investments in Kadarpur village falling in the Sohna assembly segment in this district that they would be subjected to conspiracy and subterfuge by vested interests to dislocate them with an aim to grab their farmhouses.

The plight of Major Bhalla, a resident of Delhi, and his family members has caused ripples among several farmhouse owners like them in the area. The efficiency and non-partisan attitude of the police have also come into question.

Ms Bimla Devi, wife of Major Bhalla and a social worker, has a farmhouse in her name on about two acres of land. He bought the adjoining two acres to build another farmhouse.

However, a few villagers resided in a small pocket at one corner of the village. They had been using a portion of his farmhouse as a thoroughfare.

When Major Bhalla wanted to set up a boundary wall a couple of months back, the wall was allegedly broken and a dispute on the ownership erupted between the villagers and him. A skirmish ensued and he along with others were booked. He was booked under Section 308 of the IPC and sent in judicial custody in Bhondsi Jail. He was alleged to have fired and injured a villager in the incident. He denies injuring the villager and says it was stage-managed to build up a case against him. He further says he and his family was attacked and later implicated in a false case. However, the charges against him are under consideration of the local court.

In a letter to the Deputy Commissioner last Tuesday, he has described the case registered against him as “false”. He has further alleged that after the incident the boundary wall on other side of his farmhouse built of concrete has been broken.

He has further pointed out that vested interests wanted to frighten him and then grab his land. He urged the provision of a police picket in the village.

Major Bhalla says that now a local politician has associated himself with the miscreants and is pressing the police to further implicate him in criminal cases.

Gurgaon, October 8
The district administration has constituted a standing committee to give effect to the directive of the Election Commission (EC) for preparing photo electoral rolls with the photos of the voters along with their names on the voting list.

The directive of the EC is to conduct a survey of voters for preparing the lists.

The administration has already had a joint meeting of the officials concerned and local leaders of political parties to evolve a spirit of cooperation during the time of field surveys.

The cut-off date for including new names in the voters list for the impending round of survey for
preparing new electoral list will be January 1,2006. Photography of the voters will also be done during the surveys.

The authorities will focus on assembly wise segments in the district. The survey date for Gurgaon Assembly has been fixed from October 25-November 14. In fact, as per the schedule drawn up by the administration surveys are to be completed in the district by November 22.

According to Deputy Commissioner S. S. Dalal, as per the directive of the EC, the new electoral rolls to be prepared keeping January 1, 2006 as qualifying date to be a voter will have his photo in it.

He further said that the survey teams will also work to ensure providing photo-identity cards to all the eligible voters.

In all, there will be 10 surveys teams deployed in each of the assembly segments for door-to-door visit for the twin purposes: for completing the formalities of preparing new voter list with photos of voters as well as for providing the photo-identity cards to them.

Noida, October 8
The detection of two suspected polio patients has created concern in Noida. The stool samples of the suspected patients have been sent for investigation to a Delhi lab. Polio drops could not be administered to kids of 15,416 houses because of the opposition of the families to polio drops, it is learnt.

According to information available, two suspected polio patients have been found in Dadri and Bisarakh blocks. They are Shivam, 6, in Dadri and Vishal, 18 months, in Bisarakh. Vishal is already afflicted with paralysis of legs and feet. The health department and World Health Organisation both have been informed about these two possible polio cases.

The Additional Chief Medical Officer, Dr A. K. Dhawan, is arranging to send their stool sample for investigation to WHO headquarters in Delhi which will in turn send it to the Mumbai-based anti-virus lab.

During 2005, no polio case has been reported so far. The polio coordination authorities have found these suspected cases to be of acute phlaccid paralysis (APP).

On the other hand, efforts are being made by polio teams to administer precautionary doses to 15,416 houses which could not be covered under the polio campaign launched on September 25. Polio drops were given to 3,893 kids who had been left uncovered in 7,517 houses. But in spite of renewed efforts, polio drops could not be administered to kids in some 7,893 houses.

Faridabad, October 8
An eight-day-long camp would be organised at Aggarwal Dharmashala in Ballabhgarh from October 21 to 28 next for providing aids and instruments to the physically challenged persons. About 5,000 applications had already been received for the camp which would be free. According to the Deputy Commissioner, the camp would be held with the direct involvement and cooperation of the District Red Cross Society, Lions Club International, Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Sahayata Samiti, Jaipur. Aids like calipers, artificial limbs, tricycles, shoes, wheelchair, splinters and hearing aid would be provided to the applicants free of cost at the camp. Facilities for eye testing and contract operation would also be made available at the camp. The organisers have fixed separate days for the patients and applicants from various subdivisions like Faridabad, Ballabhgarh, Palwal, Hathin and Hodal.

The camp would also entertain physically disabled applicants from outside the district on October 27 and 28. According to the authorities, this would be one of the largest such camps so far for which boarding and lodging would be free for the applicants selected. The interested persons have been asked to get themselves registered either at the office of the Red Cross Society or with the block and tehsil office.

New Delhi, October 8
In a major policy initiative in the field of tourism in view of the forthcoming Commonwealth Games to be held here, Delhi government will partner with private tour operators to promote the capital as a major tourist destination.

“Delhi Government is going to collaborate with private tour operators to promote tourism in the Capital city,” Tourism Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said here today.

He said the government will go in for public-private partnership to develop the tourism potential of the capital. The Minister, who was inaugurating a Tourism Road Show being organised by Delhi Government in collaboration with the Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI) at the ethnic hotspot ‘Dilli Haat’, said, “From now on, every month, cultural programmes on the theme of the Games will be held in the city”.

He also said that the government had already relaxed the timings for the tour operators, allowing them to operate round-the-clock and also on holidays.

He said the capital will have two more Dilli Haats. While one is coming up in Pitampura in north-west Delhi, the third one will be built in east Delhi, he said.

The number of tourism police posts will soon be increased from the present three to ten, he said.

New Delhi, October 8
Panic spread at the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences complex here this afternoon after a minor fire broke out in an under-construction building.

The fire, which erupted around 1500 hrs in the basement of the ‘Positron Emission Tomography’ section of the AIIMS, soon enveloped the entire floor creating an alarm, said sources. The blaze was triggered by a short circuit in one of the dozens of batteries and UPS systems located in the basement. — TNS

Faridabad, October 8
The Union Minister For Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, will inaugurate the country’s first dispensing station for the hydrogen-CNG fuel at the Research and Development Centre (R&D) of the Indian Oil Corporation at Sector 13 here on Sunday.

This station is part of the ongoing research of the IOC to find a breakthrough in providing a cheaper option of auto fuel, which could be prepared from hydrogen and the CNG gas. The R&D Centre of the IOC has been made the nodal centre for such research. — TNS

Noida, October 8
In Western UP, women don’t want to lag behind men, even in crime. Two women bandits along with their male accomplices had looted Rs 13,000 from a man in Pakshi Vihar under the Sector 39 police station on Thursday.

A woman is reported to have enticed a wayfarer and looted Rs 13,000 from him at dagger-point. When he tried to resist, he was beaten up and his clothes were torn off.

When the victim, Ishaque Khan, reported the matter to the Sector 39 police station, he was ridiculed and laughed at.

Ghaziabad, October 8
In a blaze in a medical godown, medical stores worth Rs 2 lakh were gutted in Kirana Mandi on the GT road under the Kotwali police station area in Ghaziabad last night. The blaze was brought under control within an hour in the Technopal godown. Owner Piyush Garg had informed the fire brigade and the police immediately.

He said the fire had started in the rear portion of the godown where a heap of rubbish was being burnt. A spark from it is understood to have caused the blaze. But fire brigade officials said it was caused by a short circuit in the godown itself

Since fire engines are located quite close by, the blaze was controlled quickly, otherwise it could have been much more devastating, especially for the adjoining properties.