AGARTALA, December 14 (TIWN): A seminar cum workshop on “Earthquake Measures in Different Building Construction” on the occasion of 1st annual general conference of Association of Service Engineers of Tripura (ASSET) was held at Nazrul Kalashetra, here today.

Addressing in the Seminar cum Workshop Minister for Finance Bhanulal Saha said that the state government has launched an awareness programme and has started buying equipment for use in emergency situations that may require rescue operations on a large scale. The state government has also imposed strict restrictions on sanction of building construction plans by Agartala Municipal Council and nagar panchayats, the minister said.

Besides initiating measures for fighting possible disasters likely to be caused by earthquakes, the state government has already identified 2,000 vulnerable buildings. These include Ujjayanta Palace, abode of former princely rulers of the state in the heart of Agartala town, Raj Bhavan, Neer Mahal, a lake palace built by Tripura’s last king Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya in 1933, MBB College and a large number of school buildings.

The state government has also identified a large number of private buildings, the owners of which will be asked to make them earthquake-resistant,” he said.

He further said the funds constraints were creating obstacles in initiating measures to face disaster situations likely to be caused by earthquakes.

Minister for forest Naresh Chandra Jamatia, Mayor of Agartala Municipal Corporation Dr. Prafullajit Sinha, President of ASSET Er. Kshudiram Tripura and other officials were present in the Seminar cum Workshop.