Nashik: A team of scientists from Geological Survey of India (GSI) is in Nashik to study the city and parts of the district, on a request from the district administration. Extensive surveys will be conducted over six months – the survey is split into two sessions of six months each, to be carried out in two years – to assess geological features of the area.Nashik, along with Ahmednagar, Jalgaon, Dhule, Mumbai and many other areas in the region, falls in Zone III. (Based on seismic activity and tectonic set-up, India is divided into four seismic zones – starting from Zone II and and ranging till Zone V, with Zone V being seismically the most active, Zone II the least).The aim is to study the current geological situation and compare it with past surveys to establish if there have been changes and deduce the outcome of seismic activity.“Though it falls in moderate category, Nashik faces substantial risk of seismic activity. As of now the science has not been able to clearly predict the time of seismic activity. The study carried out could help know the changes that have been going on down under and lead us to some conclusions, following which the corrective steps could be taken,” an officer of the GSI who did not wish to be named said.The GSI will primarily survey Nashik city, given that risk to life and property in urban areas is higher. Scientists are scheduled to visit Kalwan, Peth and Surgana talukas, which have been witness to tremors over several decades.“We have been feedback from several villages in tribal talukas that have been witnessing tremors for more than a decade. It is been fortunate that there was no major disaster so far,” the officer said, adding that the tremors were an indication of excess energy being released from time to time, actually nullifying the possibility of a major quake.“But that does not mean there will be no bigger earthquake in the region. All necessary steps and precautions have to be carried out assuming that there could be earthquakes there. A detailed study could throw some light on the situation,” the officer said.

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