SHILLONG, JAN 8: The post 6.8 magnitudes Manipur earthquake recently has jolted the Meghalaya government to put in place safety measures as a preliminary check of dams of the MeECL was carried out as part of its preparedness to tackle situation if earthquake of the same or bigger magnitude hits the state in future.
Besides the dams checking many important decisions geared towards mitigating disaster was also taken during a review meeting headed by chief secretary PBO Warjri on Friday.
The checking of the MeECL dams indicated that there are no damages because of the January 4 earthquake. The Dam Safety Cell of MeECL will carry out further detailed inspections.
A Dam Safety Review Panel in the state with external experts would also be set up.
During the Friday meeting headed by Warjri all departments were asked to prepare and/ or update their Standard Operating Procedure to be followed in case of a disaster.
The review meeting was attended by officials from the Departments of Civil Defence and Home Guards, Urban Affairs, PWD, MeECL, Health, Revenue and Disaster Management, National Informatics Centre, Fire & Emergency Service and the East Khasi Hills district administration and took stock of the preparedness for disasters such as earthquakes in the wake of recent earthquake which the state experience.
The meeting decided to conduct Safety Audits of the Life Line buildings in the state within a time frame and issue an advisory for the retrofitting of the existing buildings which were constructed prior to the enactment of the Revised Building Bye Laws of Meghalaya Urban Development Authority, 2011.
The state health department was advised to prepare a contingency plan for setting up of temporary hospitals for mass casualty treatment and power department/MeECL as well as concerned departments were advised to explore emergency power backup plans for the important life line buildings in the state.-By Our Reporter
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