MCD should find out 'unsafe' buildings in capital: NDMA

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The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) wants the MCD to conduct a survey to ascertain the number of unsafe buildings in the city and take steps to strengthen them, so that the damage can be minimised in case of an earthquake.

The NDMA will give specialised training to 240 engineers of the civic body to assess whether the buildings in the city can withstand tremors. Delhi is among 30 cities in the country falling in Zone IV, which is a severe intensity seismic zone.

"The MCD should conduct surveys to find the number of unsafe buildings in Delhi, so that the owners can re-submit their building plans and make changes accordingly," NDMA vice-chairman Shashidhar Reddy told agencies.

Reddy said the NDMA has come up with a training programme in Rapid Visual Screening (RVS) for MCD engineers which will enable them to assess how safe any building in the city would be during tremors or aftershocks.

"In certain areas, there are a number of unsafe buildings which can be damaged in case of earthquake. This training will help the engineers to assess these buildings, and the owners will have to follow the guidelines laid down by the NDMA to build safer structures," Reddy said.

The RVS method is designed to be implemented without performing any structural calculations. The procedure utilises a scoring system that requires the evaluator to identify the primary structural lateral load-resisting system and identify building attributes that modify the seismic performance expected for this lateral load resisting system.

Reddy said mock drills which were recently carried out in collaboration with the Delhi Disaster Management Authority was to prepare the citizens on how to act when a natural disaster strikes.

He also said that people have to be more aware of the structures or buildings they live in. Emphasising on the need for quake-resistant buildings, he said, in the devastating Bhuj earthquake in Gujarat, maximum damage to property was caused due to unsafe building structure.

As many as 25,000 buildings in Ahmedabad were found earthquake-unsafe and caused huge loss of lives and damage to properties, he said.