SC junks plea on quake risk: 'Should we relocate everyone to the moon?'

"So we should relocate everyone to the moon or where?" the Supreme Court asked on Friday while dismissing a petition which said 75 per cent of India's population is in a high seismic zone and sought directions to the authorities to minimise damage from earthquakes.

The petitioner, who was appearing in person, told a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta that earlier it was considered that only Delhi was in the high seismic zone, but recently it was concluded that 75 per cent of the Indian population falls under it.

"So we should relocate everyone to the moon or where?" the bench asked.

The petitioner said recently, there was a big earthquake in Japan.

"First we have to bring volcanoes into this country then we can compare it with Japan," the bench said.

The petitioner said the authorities should make arrangements to minimise damage in case an earthquake strikes.

"That is for the government to take care (of); this court cannot do it. Dismissed," the bench said.

At the outset, the petitioner said recently, there was a lot of information which was relevant to his petition.

The bench said these are all policy matters for the government to take care (of).

When the petitioner referred to some media reports, the bench observed, "These are newspaper reports. We are not bothered about them."