Naidu releases user friendly earthquake hazard zoning maps
20 September, New Delhi
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Building Materials Technology Promotion Council (BMPTC) have come out with ‘easy to use’ earthquake hazard zoning maps at the country, state and district-level incorporating tehsil level features so that earthquake resistant constructions could be made to avoid destruction during natural calamity.
With the use of this map, different authorities would be able to identify the areas where there was a great possibility of earthquake and accordingly earthquake resistant structures could be erected.
Releasing the map, Union Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister MVenkaiah Naidu urged both agencies, NDMA nad BMPTC, to ensure digitisation of these maps at the earliest so that they could be used by the public. He also suggested evolving mobile app based on these maps.
He appreciated the efforts made by the agencies and said these maps would be of significant help to architects, engineers, land use planners, insurance agencies and those involved in disaster mitigation and emergency planning and management.
Executive Director of BMPTC Sailesh Agarwal said out of the 304 million households in the country, about 95 per cent are vulnerable to earthquakes in different degree. “So with the use of this map, it would be easy to identify the areas in the country where there was more possibility of earthquake and accordingly the household and other commercial structures could be made,” said Sailesh Agarwal.
The colour coded maps easily convey location in five different zones of earthquake intensity which helps in planning for disaster resistant construction with necessary technical assistance. BMPTC of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) has prepared these maps at the behest of NDMA.
BMPTC prepared the maps using the data available with the Survey of India, Geological Survey of India, Meteorological Department and Census of India. The additional features of these maps include housing and population data, railway lines, expressways and highways, rivers, waterbodies and geological fault lines.