Nepal disaster fuels quake concerns in Shimla

Shimla: Tremors in the past have failed to shake authorities in Shimla out of their slumber. Nepal's devastating quake may prove to be a timely wake-up call.

The quake-prone erstwhile summer capital of the Raj cannot afford a Himalayan tragedy of the kind that has killed thousands and caused massive destruction in Nepal.

Officials of the Town and Country Planning Department say that Shimla's northern slope of the Ridge, an open space just above the Mall that extends to Grand Hotel in the west and Lakkar Bazaar in the east, is slowly sinking. They blame haphazard and illegal constructions for converting the once scenic seven hills on which this Himachal Pradesh town stands into an ugly concrete jungle.

A high-intensity quake can turn Shimla into a tomb of rubble as it falls in seismic zone IV-V, suggesting severest seismic sensitivity, admitted an official who didn't wish to be identified.

He said 14 major localities in Shimla were located on an average gradient of 70-80 degree slopes where a majority of the buildings infringe bylaws and building norms and haven't even adhered to seismic building norms.