Making disaster preparedness an urban priority

The recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria have brought back the spotlight on conversations around disaster management. A devastating earthquake of a 7.8 Richter magnitude hit the countries of Turkey and Syria on February 6. The pictures and videos which started doing the rounds on social media were pretty scary. Entire buildings crumbled within seconds. Reports have noted that more than 5,700 buildings have collapsed. Till now, the death toll has crossed 50,000 mark. As per a report by CNN, the government of Turkey has arrested 200 people for alleged poor building construction. The tragedy is that, it is too little, too late. As sad as the situation is, it is an opportunity for us, in India, to remedy the status quo and prepare for any disaster well in advance.

India is amongst the most vulnerable disaster-prone countries in the world, says UNICEF. According to government data, 58.6 per cent of Indian land is prone to earthquakes of moderate to very high intensity; over 40 million hectares (12 per cent of land) is prone to floods and river erosion; of the 7,516 km long coastline, close to 5,700 km is prone to cyclones and tsunamis. The National Capital itself lies in seismic zone IV (severe). The urban areas are at a particular risk in the case of earthquakes because of high population density and high rise buildings with lack of earthquake-resistant materials.

Praveen Singh Pardeshi, a former bureaucrat wrote in an Outlook article ‘There are no Natural Disasters’ that “An earthquake—a natural hazard—becomes a disaster when people build homes, infrastructure and assets for their livelihoods without conforming to seismic safe building codes.” Indeed, at a time when we have the wherewithal to create safe infrastructure for everyone, choosing convenience over commitment is inexcusable.

Following the massive earthquake in Turkey and Syria, the Delhi High Court directed that the Delhi Government submit an updated assessment on the structural stability of the buildings in the city, taking into account the safety of its citizens. The Delhi administration was given four weeks to submit a status report, and the High Court set May 10 for a new hearing on the appeal. The directive came about while hearing a petition on the lack of seismic stability of buildings in Delhi. It was revealed that only 4,500 buildings out of 32 lakh have been made structurally compliant in the last eight years, and that was only after frequent judicial intervention.

Hopefully, this nudge from the Court will get the governments to work towards developing safe infrastructure. It is high time we make disaster preparedness a priority. Countless lives can be saved by prioritising preparedness over management.