NEW DELHI — “India is going to have 35 more earthquake observatories by the end of 2021, and 100 more such observatories in the next five years,” said Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State.
He said that in the last six and a half decades since Independence, the country had only 115 earthquake observatories.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helm, there will be a quantum leap in the number of earthquake observatories in the country.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the Joint Scientific Assembly of International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy— International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth’s Interior, the Minister said that the Indian subcontinent is considered as one of the world’s most disaster-prone areas in terms of earthquakes, landslides, cyclones, floods, and tsunamis and the Modi Government is taking all necessary steps to meet these challenges.
Singh said that the importance of Geology as a recognized science of the composition, structure and, processes, which govern our planet, has probably reached its zenith today as human society grapples with challenges at multiple levels of interactions with Mother Earth.
The Minister expressed hope that the Joint Scientific Assembly of International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy — International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth’s Interior will act as a catalyst in bringing on board a more significant number of researchers and practitioners from the global community to work on issues related to rendering science to society.
“It is an appropriate environment for the two scientific communities to come together to forward research in their niche and pursue new avenues of cross-disciplinary investigations,” said Singh.
The Minister said that the linkage between the deep earth structure and geomagnetism and the role of fluids in earthquake nucleation are a few examples to emphasize the significance of the Joint Scientific Assembly of these two Associations to promote cross-disciplinary research.
The two associations have come together to hold a joint assembly in 2021, which the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Geophysical Research Institute is hosting with the support of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India.
Jitendra Singh expressed hope that organizing such a joint scientific assembly in India would foster new enthusiasm in young researchers and enable them to forge collaborations and construct cross-disciplinary science proposals, the outcomes of which will help us to move into the future with a better understanding of our planet, armed with new scientific solutions.
He also wished that a series of successful deliberations during this Joint Scientific Assembly would provide a new dimension for a better understanding of Earth System Science.
He impressed upon India’s commitment to supporting various projects of earth system science to quantify the seismic hazard for better land use and urban planning and creating disaster-resilient infrastructures for reducing risks and ultimately paving the way to sustainable development.
The Minister expressed hope that the Joint Scientific Assembly of International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy — International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth’s Interior will act as a catalyst in bringing on board a greater number of researchers and practitioners from the global community to work on issues related to rendering science to society.
“The Joint Scientific Assembly will now be organized during Aug. 21-27, 2021 on a fully virtual platform, to overcome the risks due to the pandemic, associated with travel after deliberating with both the Associations and also with in the country,” read the statement on the website of the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy-International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth’s Interior.
(With inputs from ANI)
Edited by Saptak Datta and Ritaban Misra
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