The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : ‘Violation of building bylaws in quake-prone areas is ruinous’

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Saturday, Nov 17, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

‘Violation of building bylaws in quake-prone areas is ruinous’

Staff Reporter

Seminar takes a look at disaster management preparedness

Unskilled workers account for 82.5 per cent in the construction industry
Nearly 90,000 engineers to be trained on quake-resistant buildings

BANGALORE: Prolonged violations of municipal codes on building constructions coupled with an acute shortage of skilled workers in the booming construction industry could spell disaster in earthquake-prone areas. “We are heading for a death trap,” warned National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) member, K.M. Singh, as he took a comprehensive look at the country’s disaster management preparedness here on Thursday.

Inaugurating a seminar on the topic organised by the Directorate of Home Guards, Civil Defence, Fire and Emergency Services; and the International Resource Development Centre, Mr. Singh said the construction industry, which employed 1.46 crore people in 1994, now had 3.1 crore employees. However, the proportion of engineers had dropped from 4.7 per cent to 3.1 per cent in the same period while the percentage of skilled workers came down from 15 to 10. “Unskilled workers account for 82.5 per cent, and that means more death traps,” he said.

He, however, was certain that the Rs. 31-crore National Earthquake Relief Management Project to be implemented in the 11th Five Year Plan period, would make a difference. Nearly 90,000 engineers and architects would be trained on quake-resistant buildings. “However, it would cover only 11 per cent of the engineers. Most constructions happen without engineers,” he said.

Community capacity building and disaster preparedness, Mr. Singh said, was important for India, which was becoming increasingly vulnerable to disasters. “In the last 10 years, the intensity of disasters has been increasing. These include the super cyclone of Orissa in 1999, the Gujarat earthquake of 2001 and the tsunami of 2004,” he said.

Economic losses from such disasters had also mounted. During the plan period 1991-96, the country suffered losses of about Rs. 36,000 crore, which went up to Rs. 54,000 crore during 1996-2000 and touched Rs. 86,000 crore in the period between 2001 and 2005.

Till about five years ago, the Government’s response was focussed on relief measures, and not disaster prevention. “In the 10th Plan period, Rs. 21,355 crore was spent on relief measures. If this amount had been spent for pre-disaster measures, many lives could have been saved,” Mr. Singh said.

He hoped that the Disaster Management Act of 2005, being a comprehensive enactment dealing with disaster management in three phases — preparedness, relief and mitigation — would bring in institutional mechanisms and address the problem in a concerted manner.

Mr. Singh was convinced that for disaster management to become really effective, all the stakeholders required a mindset and attitudinal change. “The attitude of seeing preventive investment as costly and unworthy should change,” he said, citing the washing away of the 10,000-km National Highway project in 155 places due to floods, as an instance.

To illustrate his emphasis on long-term thinking, he drew attention to the railway tracks in Bihar which were laid by the British on seven-foot high bunds. Many survived the floods there because they sought refuge on those elevated tracks. “Even Parliament House and other buildings are located on the Raisina Hills. Even if Delhi were to be flooded, the buildings would be intact,” he said.

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