Gurgaon’s 1,100 high-rises at risk

Sumedha Sharma

Tribune News Service

Gurgaon, April 27

The millennium city falls in the high-damage quake-prone zone IV and sits on an intersection of seven different seismic fault lines, which according to experts, if activated could cause an earthquake of up to 7.5 magnitude on the Richter's scale.

Saturday tremors virtually jolted city out of its slumber as thousands of residents of towering condominiums were forced to spend hours in open owing to aftershocks. The devastating earthquake in Nepal has made residents of Gurgaon question their respective builders about the virtually absent disaster management mechanism.

"When tremors were felt we realised that getting down from the fifth floor without a lift was a herculean task. The tremors have made us realise a major flaw in living in these high rises, and after knowing the danger zone we are in, we are really worried. We have written to our builder to know what is there in the name of disaster management," said Ramnik Singh, a member of executive committee of blue lagoon apartments.

"The tremors felt in NCR on Saturday were measured at 3 to 4.5 on the Richter scale, while the actual magnitude of the quake at the epicentre in Lamjung, Nepal, was 7.9 but it still left us harried. There are specific regulations for design, construction materials and life of structures mentioned in the National Building Code of India. Many builders, either in a hurry to finish projects or to save costs, don't follow these specifications. The irony is that even officials don't conduct audits to ensure that quality standards are met. The state must ensure that before giving completion certificates and occupation certificates, the constructions are verified and tested by a structural engineer," said Abhay Kumar Srivastav, head of the department for disaster management at the Haryana Institute of Public Administration.

Gurgaon has 1,100 high-rises and more are coming up. T he Gurgaon Administration does not possess a geographic information system (GIS) which is must to ensure a smooth rescue operation.