Gairsain (Chamoli), March 13 -- The Uttarakhand government on Thursday informed the assembly that 169 sensors have been installed across the state under the Earthquake Early Warning System (EEWS) to detect earthquakes and issue early alerts. Replying during the fourth day of the budget session in Gairsain, the government said difficult terrain and the remote location of several sensors sometimes lead to power outages, causing temporary signal disruptions and rendering some units non-functional. Congress MLA from Manglaur, Qazi Nizamuddin, asked whether alternative power supply arrangements had been made to keep the sensors operational. Parliamentary affairs minister Subodh Uniyal said backup power arrangements are in place. "At present, 128 sensors are operational while 41 are non-functional. These are periodically repaired, so the number of functioning sensors keeps fluctuating," he said. In a written reply, the government said a technical team from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee is continuously working to resolve technical issues related to the system. Uniyal added that Rs.115 crore has been spent on installing the sensors so far. The government also said it plans to increase the number of sensors to 500 under the National Earthquake Risk Mitigation Programme (NERMP). "These sensors will be installed on a priority basis in major fault thrust zones such as the Himalayan Frontal Thrust (HFT), Main Boundary Thrust (MBT) and Main Central Thrust (MCT), as well as other sensitive areas including the Uttarakhand-Nepal border and the Himachal Pradesh-Uttarakhand border," the government further said....