DEHRADUN: Taking a cue from the Joshimath land submergence and similar incidents in two other
cities of the state, the Uttarakhand government has set new standards for future buildings, keeping in mind the load-bearing capacity in all plain and hilly areas.According to sources in the state disaster management office, “the height of the building is fixed at 30 metres in the plains of the state and 12 metres in the hilly area, but the government is now going to change it.
“It is believed that there may be some reduction in the height of buildings to be built in the future in the mountainous areas,” a source said. During the Joshimath land disaster, incidents of land submergence were also reported in Karnaprayag and Vikas Nagar area of Dehradun district.
In an exclusive conversation with The New Indian Express, state disaster management secretary Dr Ranjit Singh Sinha said, “The same standards cannot be applied in every hill town given the geographical conditions of the state. In addition to the 30-degree slope standard, along with the soil carrying capacity, it has to be seen that there is no stream current or other water impact around the affected site.”
Apart from Joshimath, we are carrying out geographical inspection of all the hill towns of the state by the state disaster management”. The situation with Joshimath was that on the same side as there was a slope of the hills, there was also a slope of rocks, so the situation there became more complicated.
“The government will monitor the geographical investigation of hill stations by an expert panel to check soil strength and slope conditions as well as otherstudies”, Secretary Sinha said, adding that “it will be discussed once the report comes”.
Further, among the important proposals being implemented by the government are “those constructing on plots of more than 500 square metres will have to create green zones as well as plant trees”.In the proposal, the government has also decided that “it will be mandatory to have 10-15 per cent house area for greenery in a plot of 300 yards”.
Solar power projects will have to be installed in large houses, such as UPCL’s solar roof top or Ureda’s small solar power project. This will save electricity and also reduce carbon emissions.Group housing, maps of large buildings will be passed only when they get a green-building certificate from the authorities.
Joshimath disaster
It was the first week of this year, in January, when Joshimath was hit by a geological phenomenon known as land subsidence, or sinking of the surface due to the removal of water, oil, natural gas, or other mineral resources from the ground. Spread over an area of 2,458 square km, Joshimath is one of the six tehsils (blocks) in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli.