Dec 27, 2004
0758 hrs
I find myself angered by the fact that not a single Indian agency issued a tsunami warning. It should have been obvious to any competent geologist that a tsunami was about to follow such a massive oceanic earthquake, and a warning would have saved many people in Sri Lanka and mainland India, if not on the islands. This illustrates the skewed priorities in science funding in India, where bomb makers get the best salaries and facilities while other sciences are neglected. The task of predicting a tsunami would normally fall on the plate of the Geological Survey of India. The GSI has a large presence on the Andaman Islands, where its scientists look for water and oil and pose for pictures on Barren Island. India needs (if it doesn't already have) a research center for earthquakes and tsunamis that is independently funded.
Madhusree Mukerjee
0758 hrs
I find myself angered by the fact that not a single Indian agency issued a tsunami warning. It should have been obvious to any competent geologist that a tsunami was about to follow such a massive oceanic earthquake, and a warning would have saved many people in Sri Lanka and mainland India, if not on the islands. This illustrates the skewed priorities in science funding in India, where bomb makers get the best salaries and facilities while other sciences are neglected. The task of predicting a tsunami would normally fall on the plate of the Geological Survey of India. The GSI has a large presence on the Andaman Islands, where its scientists look for water and oil and pose for pictures on Barren Island. India needs (if it doesn't already have) a research center for earthquakes and tsunamis that is independently funded.
Madhusree Mukerjee
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