Management of Earthquakes in India

Critical Areas of Concern for the Management of Earthquakes in India:-

The critical areas of concern for the management of earthquakes in India include the following

• •        Lack of awareness among various stakeholders about the seismic risk;
• •        Inadequate attention to structural mitigation measures in the engineering education syllabus;
• •        Inadequate monitoring and enforcement of earthquake-resistant building codes and town planning bye-laws;
• •        absence of systems of licensing of engineers and masons;
• •        absence of earthquake-resistant features in non-engineered construction in suburban and rural areas;
• •        Lack of formal training among professionals in earthquake-resistant construction practices; and
• •        Lack of adequate preparedness and response capacity among various stakeholder groups

Urgent Need: A More Realistic and Scientific Seismic Zonation Map

Preparing Disaster Management (DM) plans

• •        Revising town planning bye-laws and adopting model bye-laws;
• •        Disseminating earthquake-resistant building codes,
• •        The National Building Code 2005 and other safety codes.

Training trainers in professional and technical institutions

Training professionals like engineers, architects, and masons in earthquake-resistant construction.

Launching demonstration projects and public awareness campaigns to disseminate earthquake-resistant techniques, seismic safety and seismic risk reduction

Enforcing and monitoring compliance of earthquake-resistant building codes, town planning bye-laws and other safety regulations;

• •        establishing an appropriate mechanism for compliance review of all construction designs submitted to ULBs;
• •        Undertaking mandatory technical audit of structural designs of major projects by the respective competent authorities.

Preparing DM plans by schools, hospitals, super malls, entertainment multiplexes, etc. and carrying out mock drills for creating greater public awareness

Strengthening the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) network.

Developing appropriate risk transfer instruments by collaborating with insurance companies and financial institutions

Preparing documentation on lessons from previous earthquakes and ensuring their wide dissemination.

Carrying out the vulnerability mapping of earthquake-prone areas and creating inventory of resources for effective response.