Vinod K. Gaur

Geoethics: Tenets and Praxis: Two Examples from India

Two case histories of evaluating seismic safety factors at the sites of major Indian power projects are discussed: one, a 260-m high dam in the central Himalayas, and the other, a 10-GW nuclear power plant on the west coast of India. A review of the assumptions made in the calculation of ground acceleration figures for their engineering design, reveals that in both cases advisors associated with these projects favored interpretations of lower seismic hazards than the numerically larger hazards assessed by independent scientists. The resulting lower safety factors in the case of the Tehri Dam became the basis for administrative decisions, gravely compromising future public well-being. I argue that the evaluation process in each case exemplifies an infringement of Immanuel Kant’s concept of a “categorical imperative” applied to socially evolved “rights issues” using the axiom of noncontradiction.