'A world lab'

NEW DELHI, FEB. 18. The quake-ravaged Bhuj town of Gujarat has turned into a free-for-all laboratory for world seismologists, who have descended in droves to learn from this disaster, officials said today. This has raised concern as there seems to be no control on the data being collected, the places being visited and the equipment used by foreign scientists.

Officials in the Department of Science and Technology (DST) said that between 30 and 40 groups of scientists, mostly from the U.S. and Europe, are in Bhuj studying the aftershocks and other aspects of the quake.

``We do not know who is doing what or who gave them permission to conduct studies but they are all there. In the past it was not like this,'' they said.

The DST is the nodal agency for international collaborations in all areas of science except defence. For instance, after the Latur quake in 1993, several scientists from abroad wanted to conduct field studies, but every request had to be routed through and processed by the DST, they said.

The DST made sure that a local institution was associated with the teams from abroad, so that India was aware of the nature of data being collected and had copies of it. The Department was not aware which wing of the Government permitted the field studies by outsiders and did not rule out foreign seismologists entering Bhuj as tourists or as part of relief organisations.

The DST officials said research by international teams was welcome, but it would be useful if the research was coordinated with local scientists.

- PTI

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