Scaling up earthquake preparedness in Northeast

The high frequency of earthquakes jolting Assam and other northeastern states last year, as highlighted in this newspaper’s edition on Monday, is a reminder to undertake periodic audits of the preparedness of the region. As earthquakes cannot be predicted, disaster risk reduction measures such as strengthening building construction norms, securing homes and workplaces, and scaling up an emergency response system must be at the core of preparedness. Among all states in the region, Assam recorded the highest number of 68 earthquakes, including three with a magnitude greater than 5 on the Moment Magnitude scale. The impact of earthquakes of large magnitudes can be devastating to infrastructure, residential buildings, and public buildings, which has a cascading impact on the economy. Apart from the huge expenditure involved in recovery and reconstruction, loss of revenue for the government hinders the development process. With cities and towns in the region growing vertically with an increase in high-rise buildings, the potential for earthquake damage has increased manifold. Enforcing strengthened building construction norms in the case of new building construction and retrofitting solutions for old buildings can reduce potential damage and loss of life. Emergency response challenges encountered in the state and elsewhere in the region during disasters like floods, landslides, fires, and forest fires leave lessons for assessing earthquake preparedness. The haphazard growth of the concrete jungle in Guwahati city raises questions about the enforcement of building construction norms that are recommended for the safety of occupants. More transparency in inspections by trained professionals about adherence to safety codes is crucial to boosting confidence among the occupants about the resilience of high-rise buildings to significant jolts during earthquakes. Making the inspection reports easily accessible can facilitate more scientific research, leading to implementable recommendations by experts on strengthening construction norms and retrofitting solutions for any buildings in construction for which shortcomings were observed. Such inspection, exhaustively covering old buildings in the city, is critical to improving overall earthquake preparedness. Any building, either private or public, in which the application of even retrofitting solutions is not possible to increase its earthquake resilience must be notified as unsafe. Relocation of residents and offices in such notified unsafe buildings must quickly follow to avert tragedies. Weighing the recovery and reconstruction costs in the event of earthquakes causing damage to residential and public properties against relocation costs can help city authorities and the state government articulate policies to incentivize the relocation of occupants of unsafe residential buildings. Residents of old buildings and also new buildings volunteering for disaster safety audits and earthquake resilience can make things easier for the city authorities and the disaster management authorities. Human resources of city authorities like Guwahati Municipal Corporation, Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority, and Kamrup (Metropolitan) district disaster management authorities are limited in their ability to undertake comprehensive safety audits of city buildings. The government can authorize civil engineering experts to carry out such inspections for a fee. People will volunteer for such inspections only when they are made aware of the importance of improving earthquake resilience to reduce damage and prevent loss of life. For a city like Guwahati and for all hill cities in the region, an exhaustive audit of the safety of all buildings on hill slopes is a crucial step as part of earthquake preparedness. As these hills are highly susceptible to landslides, the risk of earthquake damage to buildings on hill slopes is very high. Any unsafe building on a hillside also raises the risk for surrounding buildings, houses, and their occupants. Such buildings escaping safety inspection will be viewed as gross negligence towards public safety. Institutionalising occupants of buildings to volunteer for safety audits will also make them morally responsible for any disaster event causing damage to the buildings, their occupants and properties, and the occupants of surrounding buildings. Organizing drills on earthquake preparedness in the region needs to be a sustained exercise with the participation of every section of society. Disaster management authorities recruiting volunteers in every residential locality, in each public building, every market to facilitate periodic safety drills will keep reminding people about preparedness. Care must be taken not to create a panic situation through such drills but to encourage people to take maximum precaution at home and in public spaces when an earthquake strikes. Leveraging social media networks across digital platforms to build awareness about volunteering for safety audits of residential buildings can significantly improve community preparedness. Improved community awareness and preparedness also allow the disaster management authorities to better implement their plan of action for improving resilience in each residential locality, in the city, town, village, and the entire state. The safety of hospital buildings, fire buildings, and emergency services buildings must be increased to the maximum extent possible in view of their role in likely post-earthquake devastation. There can be no room for complacency when it comes to earthquake preparedness in a highly seismic zone like the northeast.