NEW DELHI: Keeping in mind the seismic activity that Delhi has been facing lately, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), has stepped up its effort in identifying buildings at risk and has started issuing notices to them.
According to the officials, to date 103 notices have been issued to various building owners to conduct an audit of the structural safety and submit a report to SDMC within 30 days.
After the intervention of the Delhi High Court, SDMC started the inspection process of buildings on June 27.
The notices have been issued to residential group housing societies and educational institutions, and till now six owners have started the process of engaging structural retrofitting.
“SDMC has been conducting a survey to identify high rise buildings and structures under its jurisdiction to examine their seismic stability and has been urging RWAs and housing societies to approach SDMC for the proper consultation and advice from experts,” the agency said in a statement.
To ascertain structural stability of the buildings, structural consultants and engineers are ensuring that the premises are safe and have no risk and finding areas for immediate repair and also suggesting appropriate repairs and retrofitting measures required.
In order to ensure that people do the necessary changes to their building structures the civic body has put out a list of empaneled structural engineers on its website for all the zones in South Delhi.
“SDMC has also identified 27 municipal buildings for structural audit and started engaging structural consultant for retrofitting work to ensure structural safety of these buildings,” the agency said.
Shifting of fault lines could be reason behind tremors
The Delhi-NCR region according to experts is in the second highest seismic hazard zone which comes under Zone IV.
According to experts, the tremors felt in the region may be the result of shifting in any of the several fault lines in the region.