Even as the nation is coping with catastrophic earthquakes in rapid succession, the plan to create a research institute dedicated exclusively for seismology appears to be in limbo two years after the conception of such an institute. The future of the proposed Institute of Seismology Research (ISR) in Gujarat declared a priority in the aftermath of the Bhuj earthquake is in jeopardy as the lone scientist recruited to head it has resigned and the state government has not appointed anybody else to run the show. No land has been acquired yet to set up the institute and the timeframe for utilising a World Bank loan of Rs 30 crore to kickstart the ISR has also elapsed. Mooted at an Indian Science Congress session and accepted by the Department of Science and Technology, the institute was to be located in Gujarat under the states administrative control. Dr Janardan G Negi, an emeritus scientist at the National Geophysical Research Institute in Hyderabad was appointed director-general in July 2003 and was entrusted the responsibility of creating the institute. But he resigned in September 2004.

Lone battle

I was a one-man army Though I waited for 15 months, no scientific staff was recruited. Also the bulk of the financial assistance, which was supposed to have come from the DST, never arrived, Dr Negi, who now heads the Madhya Pradesh Council of Science and Technology in Bhopal, said. Dr Negi, however, framed rules and regulations, readied an architectural plan for the building, purchased equipment to run an observatory network and prepared a brochure to popularise the institute. We wanted to make it a world-class institute. But the Centres support never came, though the state fulfilled its 20 per cent commitment, he said. The only positive outcome is that the ISR purchased digital seismographs and installed them in 20 locations to create a state-wide network. But without the institute, its up to the states science department to make the network functional, Dr Negi said. Its definitely a loss as the country needs more seismologists. Trained researchers can help in hazard estimation and disaster warnings, said Dr D K Paul, who heads the earthquake engineering division at IIT, Roorkee.

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