news details |
|
|
| Let India learn from Nepal's tremor tragedy | | | | With reports indicating there could be 10,000 deaths in the massive earthquake that rocked and rattled Nepal, especially its capital city, Kathmandu, the other day experts have started getting upset over the fate of various cities and towns in India where even mild tremors can result in vast devastation and deaths. Experts are of the opinion that the old cities and towns seem to be more prone to the tremor damage because of unauthorized construction and lack of use of earth quake resistant mechanism.In the recent earth quake in Nepal century old buildings and and structures were flattened. Yes,people in various cities and towns of India, including those in UP, Bihar,Madhya Pradesh,West Bengal and Punjab experienced scare when their flats and houses were rocked by some shocks for over two days.There were about 70 deaths in India and a number of houses and structures had suffered heavy damage. What worried experts and people is the way the authorities have allowed high rise buildings to be built in various cities and towns.There are towns and cities in UP, Delhi,Punjab,Haryana where one can see 20 to 25-storeyed buildings as if kissing the sky. And those living in flats in such high rise buildings had sleepless nights for two days because of severe rocking they had witnessed during the tremors. And there are scores of colonies in UP,Haryana,Delhi and Punjab that have been built on the sandy soil which may not st and any major earth quake. There are a number of states in the north, including Himachal Pradesh,Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttarak-hand where houses and dwellings have been build on hilly slopes which remain prone to earth quake threats . The worst part of the building exercise is the way authorities have allowed builders to const ruct several storeyed structures without having effective earth quake resistant mechanism. Panic bells have started ringing in various cities and towins in India following the Nepal earth quake.But this has hardly affected the Government agencies in various states and at the national level with the result there is no move in checking raising of unauthorized residential colonies,or making it mandatory for the builders engaged in the coruction of high rise buildings.India has been experiencing population boom which has put a fresh strain on land use and on availability of land for const ructiing a single or three-storeyed residential houses. Population explosion and paucity of land has forced people to buy flats in high rise buildings without ensuring whether those high rise structures have adequate earth quake resistant mechanism or not.People have not bothered to check the durability of the high rise buildings which have been built on sandy soil. The state of Jammu and Kashmir,with its vast range of mountains and hilly slopes, is sitting on a ticking time bomb because of the defective house construction in the twin capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu and in various towns.As a result of pressure on land people have constructed houses on Karevas and hilly slopes.Such const ruction of houses are visible in Jammu city,and some parts of Budgam district besides those in farflung areas of south and north Kashmir.One cannot feel safe in houses that have been built on hilly slopes in Poonch, Rajouri, Kishtwar, Bhaderwah and Doda districts during tremors. A major seismic fault line passes beneath Gujjar Nagar and the Tawi, which can spell doom in case of a major earthquake.Despite a close shave with the devastating earthquake in October 2005, the disaster management preparation leaves much to be desired. There is no check on unauthorised construction and the civic authorities are not conducting a seismic assessment survey before giving permission for private and government buildings.Experts say most parts of the old city were under the threat of massive devastation as illegal construction near Circular Road, Gujjar Nagar, Panjthirthi, Peer Kho, Jain Bazar, Pir Mitha, Residency Road, Krishna Nagar and Rajinder Bazaar, having a major concentration of the population, could suffer maximum damage. There is need for the Government and people of Jam mu and Kashmir to review the situation and cooperate with the Government in pulling down rickety buildings. Let the Government amend the municipal laws for granting permission for constructing buildings and all those unauthorized colonies be demolished and those affected be helped by the Government to resettle in safe zones.There is also need for reviewing disaster management for which separate grants be sanctioned so that Jammu and Kashmir has efficient disaster management mechanism. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
