Love skyscrapers, but are they safe?

High rises in Delhi are hardly prepared in the eventuality of an earthquake

On April 11, an 8.6 magnitude earthquake shook Indonesia triggering a tsunami warning and mass scale panic. The earthquake rocked Delhi, NCR and various other regions in India too. Although, the quake did not cause any harm in Delhi, but as happens in retrospect often, bells started to ring again about whether we are prepared for such an eventuality?

The National Capital boasts of numerous high-rise building - including offices, hospitals, hotels, apartments and malls. But, are these high rises prepared for an earthquake? Delhi is located in Seismic Zone IV - a high damage risk zone. With a high seismicity where the general occurrence of earthquakes lies in the range of 5 - 6 magnitude on the Richter scale; it has also experienced a few shocks at magnitude 6 - 7 (as in Sept 2011) and occasionally 7-8 magnitude too. Delhi thus lies among the high-risk areas.

In April last, Delhi had over 1,000 high-rise buildings which lacked even adequate fire safety norms. This startling fact emerged when the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) conducted a survey of 2,377 such buildings pursuant to Delhi High Court directives.

According to Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) Delhi could come down crashing even in an earthquake of  5 magnitude should the epicentre lie here.

Deepak Yadav, District Project Office with DDMA said, “Entire Delhi is prone to earthquakes which is dangerous. The city has numerous urban villages which have thousands of unauthorised colonies and buildings. People build houses like railway coaches. All these will come crashing down if a major quake happens.” He further adds that this can be prevented to some extent if proper care is taken during construction and even after construction too. “People should consult structural engineers before going in for high rises. Engineers plan according to zones; give specific measurements and proportions of using the materials.

“As for the already constructed buildings, retrofittings can used to prevent quakes.” Retrofittings are modifications made to the existing structures to make them more resistant to seismic activity, ground motion or soil failure due to earthquakes. 

The earthquakes of recent past have not caused real damage but showed that nobody is aware of what to do in the event of a ‘real crisis’.

M K Sharma, a fire station officer of DFS said they are training people. “We follow the universal rule, i.e. cover, drop and hold. But we go for these awareness drills only on request. Off late, schools have been inviting us. One should immediately cover their head and go under a wooden table and hold its leg or find a pillar and stand next to it.”

At the moment, there are basic issues which need to be addressed asap. Installation of fire equipment; congested staircases; narrow entry points at roads and absence of trained personnel to tackle emergencies are some of the major concerns which need to be looked into, vis avis multi-storeyed buildings.

Says Virendra Kumar Paul, professor at School of Planning and Architecture: “Contractors hired to re-construct buildings do so without keeping safety norms in mind.  Some of them are not even MCD approved. They don’t even go for the completion certificates.” Are we waiting for disaster to strike rather than take steps for damage control?