West Bengal government will seek assistance from the Centre on early warning systems to combat natural disasters in the state.
"We will soon send a proposal to the Centre for early warning systems to combat natural disaster. I am hopeful that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) will help us," Bengal disaster management minister Javed Khan said here today on the sidelines of an interactive session at the MCC Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
He said, the state government was seeking systems for all sort of risks, including earthquakes.
"There is little progress on early warning systems for earthquakes, but we can have systems for at least other disasters," Khan said.
He said that 13 districts in the state were prone to natural disasters.
"We are ready with disaster management training in all districts and they will not to depend on Kolkata. But, we are weak in having early warning systems," Khan said.
NDMA member N C Marwah praised the preparedness for disaster management of Bengal.
Ministry of Earth Sciences secretary Shailesh Nayak said "We are successful in Tsunami early warning system. We have 1,800 points along the coastline of the country."
Speaking on a study on earthquakes, Nayak said "We are trying to understand what is going on inside the earth that has an effect on tectonic shifts. Currently, all studies are measured on the surface."
Naik said for the study, we are installing instruments in few locations in Maharashtra inside the earth by boring deep holes.
He said these studies would help in building early warning systems for earthquakes.
