Earthquake resistant buildings

Several areas of the country are exposed to enormous seismic risks and Jammu and Kashmir falling in the vulnerable Himalayan region is one of them. There are no specific arrangements or any set policies for reducing or mitigating seismic risks and therefore, we are confronting a serious public policy challenge. However, it seems that the issue is now gaining attention of the authorities and towards a first giant step to meet the challenge, it is decided that most of the vital public buildings in Jammu and Kashmir are slated to be made earthquake resistant. This all will be made under National Seismic Risk Mitigation Programme (NSRMP). In fact, this programme is tailored, as the name in itself suggests, to mitigate the associated risks. It is loaded with reducing vulnerability of public buildings due to natural disasters like the earthquakes. There are several measures employed which can reduce and mitigate the dangers and risks and providing strength enough to central and state entities to effectively plan to face and respond to earthquakes. We must evolve policies that reduce considerably losses and damages due to earthquakes and, therefore, buildings and vital structures could be accorded required priority .
Successive State Governments of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir should have looked at the sensitive issue long back and taken sufficient measures in gradual form even though selection of Jammu and Kashmir under the NSRMP was reportedly duly conveyed long back to them. No serious efforts were made by them in at least preparing an inventory of such buildings and structures followed by furnishing such data to the concerned authorities of the said Programme. However, better late than never, only some time back requisite details were called from the Deputy Commissioners with great difficulty and that too only after the concerned agencies sought direct intervention from the Chief Secretary in the matter.
Structural and non structural measures are to be put in place towards achieving the objectives of minimising risk factors and to ensure side by side, building institutional capabilities. Lessons are required to be drawn from some of the horrifying incidents of earthquakes that hit some parts of the country like in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra few years back. Then, there is one more problem . That is associated with town planning as a result of increase in population and expansion of housing and commercial buildings which resulted in the expansion of built environment all across the country which considerably puts strains on the availability of free space and open areas.
However, the number of buildings in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir with risk factors are not few but run into thousands in number which have now been identified under the said scheme for making them earthquake resistant. Such information and data, mandatory to be shared with the National Disaster Management Authority, reportedly stands shared and could now be provided with the necessary retrofitting measures. In this effort, no mean in form and magnitude, age of the buildings, their capacity, usage and location, and other factors of vulnerability were going to be taken into consideration. Needless to add, why not to make it mandatory as a part of building permission plan to have therein incorporated, the peculiar retrofitting measures to obliterate any future risks especially in respect of those buildings going to be built for housing schools, colleges, cinema halls and any other structures where there was more movement and concentration of people. It is heartening that the money aspect in this respect is taken due care of by the World Bank. The need, however, is of making foolproof and comprehensive surveys of such buildings and structures on a continuous basis.

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