Govt to audit buildings in disaster-prone Kashmir

By Mudassir Kuloo

SRINAGAR, June 7: Considering Kashmir’s susceptibility to disasters, the government has called for an audit of the buildings.
At least 13 of 100 districts in India have been identified as ‘multi hazard districts’.
As per a government report, most areas in the valley, including Sonawari, Awantipora and Srinagar, are prone to floods.
Secretary Disaster Management Relief Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, Talat Parvez, said there were norms for construction of buildings to resist disasters.
“Norms may not have been followed in construction of buildings. We have written to the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir to hold fresh audit of the buildings, so that we could strengthen them for disasters,” Parvez said.
“In the first phase, the audit has to be conducted in hospitals, educational institutions, and various other government offices. Even audit has to be conducted in private buildings and government will provide all possible help to ensure they resist the disasters.”
An official of Disaster Management said there was urgency to carry out the audit.
Stressing on the disaster preparedness of the concerned departments, the official said that for mitigating of disasters, it was critical to have synergy between various departments.
An official posted at Divisional Commissioner Kashmir office said there are many buildings in the district that have been constructed without adhering to the norms pertaining to the earthquake resistant construction.
“Such buildings are not safe enough to resist the impact of a severe earth quake. If earthquake resistant technology is used in construction of buildings, such structures can withstand earthquakes up to a certain magnitude,” the official said.
An official document of the district development commissioner office Srinagar says that areas, which are ‘disaster prone and vulnerable’ in, would be identified so that “residential colonies are raised at safe locations and people living in risk prone areas are rehabilitated elsewhere”.
“Geology and Mining department shall be involved in identification of vulnerable areas. The concerned department would be asked to prepare a geological map, which would delineate areas in district Srinagar that can be exposed to the impact of strong earthquakes and other natural disasters,” the document reads.