NEW DELHI Indian President K.R. Narayanan called Monday for tougher building regulations following the Gujarat earthquake, and demanded action against corrupt builders and planners, AFP said.

Narayanan said the January 26 quake in the western State of Gujarat, which killed an estimated 25,000 people, had highlighted an urgent need to modernize India's disaster management system.

Shoddy construction methods and corrupt architects, planners and builders have been blamed for thousands of deaths in the quake.

In the Gujarati commercial capital of Ahmedabad the huge quake brought down 69 modern buildings even though the city was 450 kilometers (280 miles) from the quake epicenter and much of the old town survived.

However press reports say that although 59 criminal complaints have been filed against builders, only three have been arrested by police nearly four weeks after the quake.