Call for enquiry - Natural disaster or human fault
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: January 06 2016 -

Now the death toll has reached eight and reports of more casualties and damages have been pouring in from different parts of the State.

It is heartening to learn that both the Government of India as well as the State Government has assured all necessary assistance to all the people affected by the devastating earthquake.

Fortunately, no major aftershocks have been recorded so far. But we cannot afford to let down our guards.

As pointed out by seismologists every now and then, Manipur is located in a highly active seismic zone.

The devastating earthquake cut short eight precious lives.

Apart from extending all possible assistance to all the affected victims, it's time for a serious soul-searching.

We are of the firm opinion that human ingenuity can certainly minimize the impacts of all natural disasters including earthquakes even if we cannot avoid natural disasters totally.

Now we have earthquake resistant technology for construction of buildings. The technology may not be accessible or affordable to private individuals but not definitely to the State.

Even if earthquake resistant technology is still inaccessible or unaffordable, meticulous planning should precede construction of any major building and the process of construction should be monitored stringently.

The State and major construction companies should take the initiative of introducing earthquake resistant technology in the State given its vulnerability to earthquakes.

Until such a time when earthquake resistant technology is available to the common man, construction of offices, hospitals, bridges, schools and colleges should be done with utmost care and planning.

Likewise, construction of private houses, if they are concrete houses, should be done by using only construction materials of proven credibility.

To be frank, construction of public buildings, roads and bridges in Manipur through contract system is far from desirable.

There have been several reports about break down and/or complete collapse of roads, bridges and buildings even before or soon after inauguration.

We fear that the State scores very poor when it comes to maintenance of quality in construction works.

Compromising work quality on account of selfishness, greed and recklessness is nothing but playing with the lives of people.

Given this backdrop, AMUCO's demand for a thorough investigation vis-a-vis collapse or break down of public buildings merits full attention of the State, regardless of which agencies or companies executed the construction projects.

If the break down or collapse of public buildings was more on account of compromising work quality or use of sub-standard construction materials rather than the destructive power of the earthquake, then accountability should be fixed.

This much must be clear that irresponsibility and unaccountability are anti-thesis to construction of public buildings.

To put it more bluntly, human life cannot be put at stake just because some people are determined to amass personal wealth by hook or crook.

It's time for introspection into the prevailing state of affairs regarding construction of public buildings.

It's not time for playing blame game nor should it be exploited for scoring political mileage.

As the key civil society organisation demanded, there must be a thorough independent investigation, free from political influence or otherwise.

At the same time, the State should invest all efforts to introduce, popularize and make affordable earthquake resistant technology for construction of buildings.

If we must suggest, the State can open a Research and Development Wing under Science and Technology Department for continuous research and improvement of earthquake resistant construction technologies.

Construction is a part of human civilization and if our constructions are being threatened by earthquakes and other natural phenomena, we must improve our ingenuity and technological capability in addition to importing technology from advanced countries.

The political leadership of the State need to work with a vision and the January 4 earthquake is a stark reminder, if we are not mistaken.