Vishwas Dass
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, April 28: The Nepal earthquake that has ravaged the neighbouring nation has raised many concerns including whether Bhubaneswar’s high-rises can withstand an earth quake of seven magnitude on Richer scale. The city has over 550 multi-storied buildings but there is no clear evidence how many of them are quake-resilient that can withstand tremors of over 6 or 7 magnitudes.
According to the Orissa State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA), Bhubaneswar falls under seismic zone-III which is prone to earthquakes that can reach 6.5 on the Richter scale. But there are concerns whether government agencies would be able to provide uninterrupted electricity, water, telecommunications and fire services during such an emergency.
After interacting with many government authorities, it was exposed that city is not at all ready to face such calamity that can throw electricity, water, telecom and fire services to the wind. If an earthquake of such intensity hits the city, the government would largely depend on the central agencies to carry out search and rescue operations because of lack of expertise of its own.Most of the city’s buildings and infrastructure either have little capacity to handle tremors or have not been certified as earthquake-resistant.
It was found that OSDMA has got only 10 units comprising only 500 personnel to tackle the disaster across Orissa out of which a meagre 50 personnel have been imparted training on collapse structure search and rescue operation (CSSR).
That implies if any major quake hits the city, there are only 50 trained personnel of Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) to help the city having around one million populations. Sources said if tremor of seven magnitude hits the city, at least one lakh people will be directly affected that may trigger chaos on streets.
Senior officials admitted that healthcare services would be crippled as Bhubaneswar does not have medical institutes at par with metropolitan cities to take care of wounded people.
In case of large scale calamity, OSDMA largely dependents on the National Disaster Response Force, having over 1,000 personnel based at Mundali in Cuttack. OSDMA’s chief general manager Kamal Lochan Mishra said earthquake can never be predicted despite science’s unprecedented progress. “We have to ensure high-rises comply with the norms of earthquake-resilient standards; so that damage can be minimised. Agencies like Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) should ensure people construct their buildings as per quake-resilient standards,” he said.
Notably, when cyclonic storms Phailin and Hudhud had struck the city 2013 and 2014 respectively, public health engineering organisation (PHEO) had pressed water tanks into service as electricity was crippled across the city.
BDA do not have experts to help people get their buildings (more than 10 floors-over 30 metres) quake-resistant. People have to consult experts on their own to make their high-rises safe.Ironically, BDA has only 72 empanelled structural engineers to help people make quake-resistant buildings of below 30 metres.
However, BDA planning member Sudhir Kumar Mohanty believes 72 empanelled engineers are sufficient to ensure buildings comply with BDA bylaws despite city’s rapid real estate growth.
Urban planning expert Piyush Rout said there is no scientific manner to ensure buildings can withstand high intensity tremors. “BDA has a major responsibility of ensuring skyscrapers should be made of earthquake-resilient standards,” he said.