BANGLADESH is now one of the most earth-quake-prone areas of the world. The finding has been made public by a number of seismologists. Since we have not seen any big earthquake in recent years we have almost pushed back the necessity for a modern seismic observatory in the country. The one that we have in Chittagong is quite old and obsolete to an extent that the recent quake which took the lives of five children and injured around two hundred people at Maheshkhali was not even recorded in the machine. As a result neither the epicentre nor the intensity of the shock could be instantly known.

In the last few years we have had light tremors in some parts of the country, specially in the north and the south. It may not be possible to forecast earthquakes but in a modern observatory it is always possible to exactly locate the epicentre of the tremor and measure the intensity of the shock, information that can come handy for relief and rescue operations. Once this region has been mentioned in the expert group's report as being vulnerable to earthquake we may brace ourselves for harrowing times ahead.

In such a context how could the successive governments shelve the proposals for modernisation of the existing observatory and establishment of two new ones at Rangpur and Sylhet? How could the government be so naive as to totally ignore the importance of seismic observatories in a country that is widely suspected to be in a seismic zone and having quakes on and off. We urge the government to arrange funds immediately for the two projects mentioned above.