India will have 35 more earthquake observatories by end of 2021 and 100 more such observatories in next five years, Union minister Dr Jitendra Singh said on Saturday.
In the last six-and-half decades since Independence, the country had only 115 earthquake observatories, said the Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science and Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space.
Delivering the keynote address at the inaugural ceremony of Joint Scientific Assembly of International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA) - International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth’s Interior (IASPEI) on Saturday, the minister said the importance of the 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 the hope that the Joint Scientific Assembly of IAGA-IASPEI will act as a catalyst in bringing on board a greater number of researchers and practitioners from global community to work on issues related to rendering science to society, the release added.
Singh also said that it is a fitting environment for the two scientific communities to come together to forward research in their niche as well as pursue new avenues of cross disciplinary investigations.
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. IAGA and IASPEI have come together to hold a joint assembly in 2021, which is being hosted by the CSIR-NGRI with the support of the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, he said.
Singh impressed upon India’s commitment to support 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 way to sustainable development.
Earlier, Singh pointed out 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.