Haryana Government on Tuesday warned that strict action would be taken against builders in Gurgaon and Faridabad for violating structural safety norms in the wake of a massive earthquake that struck Nepal. In NCR region especially in Gurgaon and Faridabad, builders are required to follow norms which are set as per seismic zone IV category.
“We hope that builders comply with building norms and if we find any violation, we will take strict action against them,” said Haryana Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Abhimanyu while talking to the mediapersons on Tuesday.
Strong tremors were felt in various parts of Haryana following the massive earthquake-an intensity of 7.9 on Richter scale that had hit Nepal on Saturday. The State Government has also issued directions to the authorities concerned to carry out random checking of buildings in Faridabad and Gurgaon to check violations of building norms, he said.
He said that a huge portion of Haryana comes in the NCR and high rise buildings set up in this region could become a reason for worry in case of an earthquake. A meeting will soon be held to take stock of the State’s readiness to deal with any eventuality like quake. A public awareness campaign will also be launched in this connection, he added.
When asked about non-finalisation of State disaster management plan and district disaster management plans in Haryana, Capt. Abhimanyu said that directions have been issued to the concerned officials to finalise the plans at the earliest. Also, a meeting of Haryana State Disaster Management Authority will be convened soon, he added.
Notably, Haryana falls in the seismic zone IV, III, & II and the region is vulnerable to earthquakes. Although, in recent past, no major earthquakes have occurred in the State, yet tremors have been felt whenever there is an earthquake in the Himalayan foot-hills.
According to the hazard profile /report with Haryana State Disaster Management Authority, in the last decade, towns of Faridabad and Gurgaon being its proximity of Delhi have grown up in the major residential-industrial towns whereas the town of Panchkula has emerged as a major residential city of the State.
And, all of them are falling in earthquake zone IV. As a result of this, an unplanned development which is not corrected and mainstreamed by means of preparedness /prevention/mitigation measures pose a greater challenge if an event occurs.