WILL it quake or will it not? That is the
topic being hotly debated by seismologists and environmentalists regarding
the Tehri dam project in Tehri Garhwal,
Uttar Pradesh (up). The latest in the row
is a startling finding by a group of scientists of the Roorkee University,
up, who say that the dam would
prevent future earthquakes in the
Garhwal region. They have also
concluded that the devastating
Uttarkashi earthquake of 1991
could have been prevented had the
dam been there. Several scientists
and environmentalists had earlier
predicted major earthquakes in the
region if the dam came up.
The studies have pinpointed the origin of the next great quake at a spot
close to where the reservoir load will
be at its maximum, in case the dam is
built. The huge body of water acts like
a load on the fault lines numbing the
pre-shocks that could lead to the big
quake. Thus, the reservoir, if built,
would delay or arrest the next great
quake.
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