Even though experts have warned time and again that Bhubaneswar comes under Seismic Zone 3 and poses a threat of mass destruction of life and property yet the State Government has not imposed any restriction on height of complex buildings in the capital city. In view of experts’ warnings, BJD MlA Mahesh Sahu recently urged Housing and Urban Development Minister Puspendra Singh Deo to limit the height of multistoried buildings to 22 metre as was a norm in the BDA (Planning and Regulations Standards) Regulation-2001.
In a letter to the Minister, Sahu mentioned that Utkal University Geology Department head Debananda Behera and Kharagpur IIT’s Prof Sudhir Jain have already warned in this regard. According to experts, load of high-rise apartments put pressure on part of the earth they are constructed and continued underground water use by residents results in underground contraction.
“There is possibility of an earthquake to hit Bhubaneswar as it comes under Seismic Zone 3. Once it occurs, loss of life and properties can be of more magnitude than that of Ahmadabad and Jabalpur,” Sahu mentioned in his letter quoting reports of Bhera and Prof Jain. Besides Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Dhenkanal and Talcher are also earthquake-prone cities, according to Prof Jain.
Jain had made these revelations at a related seminar hosted jointly by the BJD, Housing Board and the Hudco in March 2001. Reminding that there is no height restriction for buildings in the BDA (Planning & Regulation Standards) Regulation-2008 (Amendment 2013), the MlA urged the Minister to formulation a fresh regulation to restrict construct buildings to 3-storey level only.