Assam didn't rock http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=14&theme=&usrsess=1&id=130391
Although the earthquake predicted by a Chennai-based geologist N Venkanathan didn't rock Assam as predicted, the morning of 8 September will haunt the people of the state for sometime. People were up early that day after spending a sleepless night, fearing the worst especially since such a "tremor", predicted at a massive 8 on the Richter scale, has the capacity to flatten entire cities and devastate river shores. But the anointed hour, 8-21 am on Friday, came and went without even a bump being felt, especially in the Dibrugarh area where the epicentre was predicted! Tens of thousands of households had packed bags with food, water and clothes as well as medicines in preparation, having seen disaster preparation drills on television. Those living in high-rise housing complexes moved into the open. The roads were deserted in the morning and many children did not go to school; the schools too joined the hysteria provoked by Mr Venkanathan and many across the state were closed. And when the fateful moment passed, many were heard cursing the "scientist" who dared to predict an earthquake so precisely. The fear factor overtook many people despite assurances from expert seismologists that it was virtually impossible to predict an earthquake with such specific time and location. The state government had asked the people to stay calm and firmly dismissed the prediction. It is necessary that individuals, the state and the Central government take legal action against the man from Chennai who caused such mental agony and financial loss to the people and the state of Assam. Charlatans must be punished. At least two private air operators are likely to run dedicated regional air services in the North-east, it was announced on Friday. Briefing members of the Consultative Committee attached to the civil aviation ministry at Kolkata on Thursday, the director-general of civil aviation said that in the Winter Schedule there was going to be an increase of 49 frequencies of flights in the region. The government granted initial NoC last month to Sky King Aviation to operate scheduled air services exclusively within the North-east. The airlines has initial plans to operate air services to and from Agartala, Aizwal, Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Leelabari, Silchar, Dimapur, Imphal, Shillong and Tura. The other proposal also under government consideration is from Surya Air for non-scheduled operations with short-haul feeder air services in the region. The airline has plans to provide air connectivity to Agartala, Aizwal, Bagdogra, Dimapur, Imphal, Leelabari and Silchar, officials said. The UPA government may have gone to town claiming that all is well with the North-east but a home ministry report has revealed that violent incidents in the region has increased by 8 per cent and in Assam it has shot up by 49 per cent. But there is a positive side as well, as the number of killing of civilians has come down by 6 per cent and security forces by 36 per cent. "Achievements of the UPA Government" released last year, ignores the rise in violent incidents, cleverly explaining that incidents of civilians killed and kidnapped in the North-east have registered a significant decline in 2004-2005. The home ministry's own year-ender released in December said the overall security situation in the North-east has "shown signs of improvement not only in terms of declining levels of violence but also through public revulsion against mindless acts of terrorism". "There have been instances of public protests against high-handedness by militant cadres and people are now forthcoming against the militants," the report had said. In case of Assam, the number of violent incidents has increased compared to incidents in 2004. But the number of civilians and security force personnel killed has reduced by15 per cent and 59 per cent, respectively.
