The seismically sensitive State of Uttarakhand now has 1,514 trained masons with more slated to be trained in building earthquake resilient constructions. Considering creation of disaster resilient infrastructure as one of the best ways of tackling disaster, the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA) has been training masons in the State for the past 13 years. The department is aiming to strengthen the capacity and knowledge of the masons who already had traditional knowledge in the field of disaster resilient construction in the State but lacked technical knowledge on it.
As the State falls under zones IV and V highly prone to earthquake, the USDMA focused on building earthquake resilient constructions and initiated five-day training programme for masons in 2004. During these training programmes conducted every month, the masons are trained on the essential technical elements of earthquake safety such as lintel band, roof/floor band, vertical reinforcing bar at corner, door, window sill bands, reinforcement and bending seismic bands etc. Practical training in these aspects was imparted to the local masons at district, block and tehsil levels.
Officials State that today there are 1514 trained masons in the State with the department looking forward to spread this network to enhance preparedness against unforeseen disasters for minimal loss. Recently the USDMA also signed an agreement with Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) Roorkee to impart training knowledge on building by laws to 40 engineers from various government departments. According to the disaster management secretary Amit Singh Negi, earlier the importance of disaster resilient construction knowledge was limited to scientific community but now the focus of the department is to take it further to the locals who are vulnerable and are not really aware about the existence of disaster resistant buildings. The disaster management additional secretary Savin Bansal said that due to the awareness raised by the department on the need for earthquake resistant buildings, gradually local community is giving more preference to the disaster resilient houses rather than cemented house. The aim of the department is to make them realise the long term benefit of choosing disaster resilient construction which is not so expensive.
The Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre executive director Piyoosh Rautela said that building disaster-safe dwelling is the key to avoiding loss of human lives in an earthquake event. The State government is also organising demonstrations and training for ensuring disaster resilience in the communities.