Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is overseeing the relief operations in quake-hit Bihar has said that if the epicentre of the earthquake that hit Nepal last month and claimed more than 8,000 lives was in Patna, 5 lakh lives would be lost, and stressed to construct more quake-proof buildings.
The aftershock of the May 12 earthquake left 19 dead in Bihar. The state once again bore the brunt of the temblor that occurred less than three weeks after the monster quake that devastated Nepal.
With the numbers expected to climb further, Nitish said, "The earthquakes have provided a warning" and appealed to the people to abide by the building construction bylaws as the state was highly prone to earthquakes.
"We will all die for sure, but why commit suicide," Kumar said while inaugurating a two-day Bihar Conference on 'Disaster Risk Reduction'.
"People don't die because of earthquakes, they die due to falling buildings. So many multi-storied buildings are being constructed and no open space is being left. I have warned at least a dozen times, but nobody is willing to listen on these issues.
"Don't be happy that buildings are not coming down in Patna. What if the epicentre were in the plains? Five lakh people will die in Patna if the epicentre of a 6.8 intensity earthquake, like the one that hit Bhuj in Gujarat, is located in Patna," he said.
Nitish said the only satisfactory thing in May 12 earthquake was that the panic witnessed in the April 25 temblor was absent this time.
"The need is to be prepared with construction of quake resistant buildings and retrofitting the ones built earlier. People should pay attention while constructing, selling, buying houses. Earthquakes hit Japan on a daily basis, but no harm take place because of the way buildings are built there. We should learn from them," he said.
The Bihar chief minister said the earthquakes have awakened the people on the issue and it was time to check the hazard posed by it by building safe structures.
Meanwhile, all government and private schools in the state have been closed for summer vacation from Wednesday following the directives Nitish, who ordered the closure as a precautionary measure.