AGARTALA, Aug 27 - As part of mitigation plan in case of a severe earthquake, Director of IIT, Jodhpur Prof CVR Murty on Sunday prescribed four measures � make new buildings tremor resistant, retrofit old buildings, ensure strict adherence of regulations and capacity building.
Prof Murty, one of the pioneers of the country�s structural design fraternity, was speaking at a seminar titled �Uncertainty: Lives in Quake zone-V at Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhavan here.
�Since there is no mechanism for earthquake warning, we must focus on mitigation and preparedness in case of any major tremor�, he said.
Noting that Tripura is very vulnerable as the State falls under seismic zone-V, Prof Murty said new buildings must be earthquake resistant to prevent collapse.
He said there is a need to undertake retrofitting of vulnerable existing buildings and strict adherence to the rules laid down by the State administration or the district administration. �Capacity building is also an important part in case of any major tremor. Since earthquake is not taught at the school level, teachers must be imparted training on capacity building�, he opined.
Prof Murty said a building may collapse if structural design is not done properly. �If you have competent engineers, you could go for high rise building even in Agartala where soil is soft. And foundation of a high rise building must be strong enough to resist major tremors�, he said.
District Magistrate (DM), West Tripura Dr Milind Ramteke, in his speech, admitted the situation would be horrible in the capital town in case of a major tremor even with the best possible preparedness. �In Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) area, the number of families stands at 90,000, out of which only 10/15 per cent buildings are earth-quake resistant. We have to take some steps to improve the mitigation mechanism�, he pointed out.
Saying that he would convey the outcome of the seminar to the State administration, Dr Ramteke admitted, �There is a serious lack in trained engineers on how to build technically sound structures. Anyway, we may rope in IIT, Jodhpur to impart training for engineers�.
Sunil Khadka, Infrastructure Planning Advisor, Ministry of Health and Population, Govt of Nepal, Hari Kumar, Regional Coordinator, South Asia, Geo Hazards Society, New Delhi and SK Das, State Project Officer UNDP also spoke in the seminar.
