KOCHI: The recent landslides have raised serious questions regarding the building construction practices in the state’s environmentally sensitive areas. Even as the experts are calling for a change in the building rules and land management, the Indian Institute of Architects (IIA), Kerala urged architects and technicians to refrain from unscientific and dangerous construction work in the wake of the floods and landslides that Kerala witnessed.
“Government buildings, resorts and those of religious organisations are coming up in the vulnerable areas of the Western Ghats,” said L Gopakumar, chairman, IIA. According to him, no one cares. “The Madhav Gadgil report has been ignored by both the Central and state governments. It is high time people exercise self-restraint,” he said.
“Isolated houses or small farms do not invite danger. On the contrary, large-scale mining and construction are responsible for natural disasters such as landslides. A massive mass movement is needed to prevent this,” he added. Gopakumar said, “The only way to solve the issue is to have the technical experts in the construction sector unite.”
According to him, the construction sector should not be discouraged and mining should be balanced and large projects should be limited to safe areas. “For this, the IIA is ready to launch a strong campaign to build public opinion. This should be an opportunity to conduct environmental impact studies in collaboration with the state governments and formulate a new design policy,” said Gopakumar.
He said the need of the hour is to ensure there is no further natural disaster or loss of life. Lauding the stand taken by the IIA, G Shankar, who advocates the use of locally available materials, sustainability, eco-friendliness and cost-effectiveness when it comes to constructing buildings, said this attitude will work towards enhancing the green fabric of the state.
“It is also nice to note that the architects and engineers who are responsible for the built-up environment are realising the importance of eco-sensitive planning,” he added. He said, “Time is nigh for the state to rework its building rules. Kerala’s disaster mitigant planning and land zoning have not been included in the building rules. However, these provisions are there in the national building code.
The state needs to strictly follow the rules mentioned in the code when it comes to construction activities in the environment-sensitive areas.” Sethu Nath, CEO, Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI), Kerala said, “The real estate developers in the state have always avoided construction in the environmentally sensitive areas.”
Ethical practice
According to B R Ajit, chairman, the Asian School of Architecture and Design Innovation (ASADI), Kochi, though a call to reject projects in eco-sensitive areas is welcome, it might not be viable. “The reason is the dip in the market as a result of Covid,” he added. Of course, the ethical practice would be to refuse projects that damage the environment, said Ajit. “But how many can afford it?” he said.