The State Executive Committee of Tripura Disaster Management Authority (TDMA) has allocated Rs 6.38 crore from the State Disaster Mitigation Fund to Tripura Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) for retrofitting the century-old Pushpabanta Palace (formerly Raj Bhawan).

The officials on Sunday said to make the structure of the palace earthquake-resistant, the technical experts had made specific suggestions for retrofitting the building and some corrective steps considering the earthquake vulnerability, as Tripura falls in Zone V, but TTDC was waiting for the funds to start the work.

Pushpadanta Palace was built by Maharaja Birendra Kishore Manikya Debbarman in 1917, and it was selected from a spot on a green hillock known to the city spread over 1.76 hectares, which stands a kilometre from Ujjayanta Palace.

The palace served as a guest house for the Manikya kings and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who had close ties with the Tripura royal family on his last visit to Tripura in 1926.

He stayed there and his 80th birthday was celebrated in Pushpabanta Palace in 1941.

Under the recommendations of the XVth Finance Commission, the State Executive Committee (TDMA) has approved the disaster preparedness measures as part of Tripura’s annual plan from 2021–22 to 2025–26.

In the Apda Mitra project, the Tripura government has bought 15 types of essential equipment and transferred them to the district administration to overhaul the emergency response mechanism.

“Direction has been issued to the district administration for the organisation of festivals and events, crowd control, pandal construction, recruitment of police and volunteers, and mass awareness to manage disasters,” the officials stated, adding that the state authority has also been moving with a monthly calendar of disaster management campaigns.

In response to the regional artificial exercise related to the earthquake on December 21 last year, all government offices, schools, hospitals, markets/communities, and chemical-related risks in the identified areas were brought to practice where district administration, security forces, and social organisations actively participated in the simulated exercise.

At least nine Ham Radio stations were commissioned in eight districts of Tripura to enhance communication during calamities, and a portal for issuing emergency alerts has been operational since January 2022. The ongoing retrofitting of government buildings aims to reduce earthquake risk, accompanied by training for engineers and personnel, officials added.

(With UNI inputs)