Thousands of houses marked red but very few demolished
Lessons from Southeast Asia
KATHMANDU, Jan 15: Most of the schools in the capital were marked red by the authorities after the magnitude 7.8 earthquake of April 25, as they incurred serious damages. However, the red marks were changed into green in the dead of the night, said a government source.
Similarly, engineers at the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC) under the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) reported that almost all the private hospitals have been operating from residential buildings that were not constructed for commercial purpose and poses serious risks to the public safety. They had suggested the concerned authorities to immediately scrap the license of those hospitals operating in residential buildings.
Aforementioned cases are just few examples of the 'utter negligence' of the concerned authorities. Despite the irreparable losses of lives and property worth billions of rupees, the concerned authorities seem indifferent toward the public safety.
"We did not learn lessons from the loss," Uttar Kumar Regmi, chief of the committee to access vulnerability of earthquake formed by the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), said. He said that risks have amplified as most of the infrastructures have become weak.
According to Regmi, most of the buildings, which incurred serious damages, have been repaired and people have started residing in them.
"We had marked red signs on thousands of homes. That means those buildings should have been demolished, but very few have been pulled down," he added.
Regmi said the issue of quake-resistant infrastructures has been sidelined as all government agencies are focusing on relief and reconstruction works. Non-technicians have been retrofitting the damaged buildings, which has increased the risk.
"We talked a lot after the devastation but did little," said Surya Narayan Shrestha, deputy chairman of the National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET). He suggested all not to compromise on safety measures and asked the authorities to strictly implement the building codes.
About 9,000 people died and over 30,000 were injured in the devastating earthquake of April 25. Fourteen districts, including Kathmandu, were the hardest hit by the quake.
