District Disaster Officer says no cracks on earth observed in Kodagu; no need to panic

Kushalnagar: People residing at Chembu village in Madikeri Taluk of Kodagu District, the epicentre of multiple earthquakes and the villages in the surrounding 25-km radius are spending sleepless nights at their homes and they wake up at the slightest noise, fearing another quake.

What has disturbed them is the failure of the Scientists and Geologists — who visited the village after over eight earthquakes of varying magnitudes stuck their village — in explaining the exact cause of the quake.

Though an Earthquake Monitoring Sub-Centre has been established at Chembu Government High School, this has not helped the authorities to at least mitigate the fears. Senior citizens, who have seen the changing landscape of the village and its surrounding areas feel that excessive commercialisation, land conversion and rampant quarrying activities are the main reasons for the quakes.

In some residential pockets, if it rains heavily in the day, villagers take turns to stay awake after dark so that someone will be there to alert them in case the earth shakes instead of being caught off guard. Many of them sleep on the verandas of their houses so that they can run in case there is an earthquake or landslides.

Past experience

Residents recall the natural calamity that took place in 2018-19 where mountains were washed away leaving houses and coffee estates buried under mud and slush. Not only Chembu village but many other villages like Devastur, Karike, Peraje, Sampaje, Makkandur and Mukkodlu too are living under constant fear.

They have alleged that the team of Geologists from Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) from Bengaluru who visited the villages neither gave any convincing answers on the reason behind the quake nor did they rule out future tremors. “They just came and established the Earthquake Monitoring Sub-Centre and left,” said the villagers.

“We are relieved that the Earthquake Monitoring Sub-Centre has been equipped with a broadband Seismometer, Accelerometer, Accelograph, Digitiser, GPS and other accessories. Even Scientists Ramesh and Jagadeesh came here and assured us that the quakes are minor. But they did not explain to us why these tremors are happening,” villagers said.

The team also visited neighbouring Sullia in Dakshina Kannada District and examined the cracks on the ground at Gulikkana that extended up to 200 metres. Over 10 families live there. Geological Survey of India (GSI) Senior Geologists Eijas Ahmed Bhat, Senthil Kumar Sukoch, Deputy Director of Mines and Geology Department, Mangaluru, B.M. Lingaraju and Geologist Dr. Sushma Shashi were part of the team.

Minor tremors

Speaking to Star of Mysore, District Disaster Management Expert R.M. Ananya Vasudeva, who is also the District Disaster Officer, said that people need not panic as the tremors are minor.

“This type of earthquake does not create any harm as the epicentre falls in Seismic Zone III. We have seen quakes in 1984, 2012, 2018 and so. Only in 2018, there were major floods and landslides as cracks were visible all over the forests and mountains. Soon after this year’s quakes, we alerted the Revenue and Forest Departments to observe cracks in the forest areas and also on the revenue lands. But so far, there have been no reports of cracks,” he said.

No threat to Harangi Dam

Ananya added that the district machinery was on high alert for any variations either in the form of excess rains, landslides, floods or quakes. On the perceived threat to the Harangi Dam out of these quakes, he said that while constructing the Dam, all factors including quakes would have been considered. Moreover, these tremors are minor and the Dams can withstand tremors up to 6 or 7 magnitudes on the Richter Scale.

KSNDMC Scientist Jagadeesh too dismissed the threat to Harangi Dam and said that the quake had an epicentre in Chembu and does not have the reach to hit the Harangi Dam as it is more than 50 kilometres away. Jagadeesh said that in the Himalayan region, hundreds of tremors have been recorded but there has been not a single landslide.

On the allegation that the Scientists were not able to ascertain the cause of the quake, he said that the Earthquake Monitoring Sub-Centre was recording every minor movement in the earth and a detailed analysis is required to study the tremors. “There is no need to panic and the Government has to decide on conducting a detailed study,” he said.

One more team to visit today: Kodagu DC

Kodagu Deputy Commissioner Dr. B.C. Satish has said that one more team from the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), a constituent research laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Hyderabad, will come to Kodagu today (July 6) to analyse the multiple quakes.

“We are in constant touch with the Scientists from Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre and a couple of video conferences have been held with them. The team will visit areas like Chembu, Karike, Bhagamandala, Sampaje and Sullia. They will also interact with the people about the reasons for the quake and precautions to be taken,” he said.

Tonnes of driftwood and garbage float in Haradoor River

Trees that were uprooted in the floods and landslides in 2018 and 2019 are being washed away by flowing water now and many of them can be found at the Haradoor River. There are two bridges built across this river.

While the smaller bridge completely submerges even if it rains heavily for a day, the bigger bridge connects the two banks of the river. Now, most of the smaller bridge has been covered in driftwood and also garbage.

Though the Kodagu District administration has warned the locals not to enter the river to fetch the driftwood, they continue to do so, risking their lives as the wood can be used as firewood.