Seminar on seismic safety held
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, April 01 2016 :
A one day seminar on "Achieving Seismic Safety in Manipur through Confined Masonry Construction" was held at the conference hall of Public Works Department (PWD) Manipur, Imphal, organized by the PWD in association with the National Information Centre of Earthquake Engineering (NICEE), IIT Kanpur.
Following recent earthquakes which hit the State and caused serious damages to life and property such awareness campaign in the form of a seminar is organized to understand more about the various aspects of design and construction of confined masonry construction, stated Chief Engineer, PWD Lokendra Singh who attended as the chief guest of the inaugural function.
Coordinator, NICEE Prof Durgesh C Rai was the convener of the seminar and ACE, PWD Kh Temba was the guest of honour.
The damage incurred by the State in the Jan 4 earthquake has shown the seismic vulnerability of concrete buildings in Manipur, Lokendra said.
The quake which measured 6.7 at Richter scale took a toll on human life and property.
He stated that more than 70 buildings sustained extensive damages and 2000 more office and residential houses were also damaged.
Such damage by the earthquake is caused mainly due to unplanned constructions techniques used by the people, he added.
Prof Durgesh C Rai commented that the NICEE intends to collect and maintain information resources/publication on earthquake engineering and make these available to interested users, as well as to undertake other outreach activities with a view to mitigate earthquake disaster.
The damaged incurred by the State from Jan 4 earthquake was the result of poor workmanship and material quality of construction materials.
The buildings designed and constructed in this area should be able to resist earthquake without severe damage or collapse, he added.
Significant amount of technical skill and workmanship is required in design and construction of reinforced concrete framed buildings for satisfactory performance with is usually difficult to procure.
The Confined Masonry type of construction could be an alternative and prove to be beneficial for Manipur as it is less expensive and requires lesser involvement of engineers in design and construction, he said.
Confined Masonry buildings have performed excellently during past earthquakes in several other countries and if constructed properly, confined masonry construction could help in reducing loss and damages in an earthquake, Prof Durgesh said.
Prof Durgesh C Rai, IIT Kanpur; Prof Hemant B Kaushik, IIT Guwahati and Prof Vaibhav Singhal, IIT Patna provided an insight into the existing problems in construction practices in Manipur and exposed various aspects of design and construction of confined masonry construction to contractors, builders and other participants.