Chandigarh, October 8
If it was Mr Buta Singh, Bihar’s Governor, who rocked the Congress boat on the opening day of the Congress Chief Ministers’ Conclave here yesterday, it was a massive earthquake which disrupted the conclave for some time on its closing day today.
The Special Protection Group (SPG), responsible for the security of the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the AICC President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, immediately escorted them out of the hall in which the conclave was on to the lawns of Punjab Bhavan when the earthquake jolted Chandigarh and other parts of northern India.
According to Mr Tom Vadakkan, AICC Media Secretary, the two VVIPs were the first to be escorted out of the building as per the standard drill of the SPG. The Chief Ministers and others participating in the conclave could move out only after the VVIPs had reached the safer place.
The strong tremors were felt around 9.22 am, minutes after the Prime Minister concluded his half-an-hour address to the conclave.
From the lawns of Punjab Bhavan itself, the Union Home Minister, Mr Shivraj Patil, immediately contacted officials of his ministry to ascertain the details of the quake. The deliberations remained disrupted for about 15 minutes.
In the adjoining Haryana Niwas, where the Media Centre had been set up, a large number of journalists of the print and electronic media and officials rushed out. The Haryana Excise and Taxation Minister, Mr Venod Sharma, who was there to look after the media persons, was seen pacifying the terrified journalists. Fans and chandeliers shook violently prompting the media persons and officials to rush into open space.
The quake also put a question mark on the scheduled press conference by Mrs Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh for some time. A crack was seen in Haryana Niwas after the tremors stopped. The SPG had doubts about the safety of the building. It was only after senior engineers of the Haryana Public Works Department examined the damaged and assured the security agencies that it was merely a crack in the false ceiling, that a go-ahead signal was given for the press conference.
The media persons who were staying in the high-rise Shivalik View had a tough time to rush down the stairs to the safety of its lawns.
