A three-day seminar on “Approach to Retrofitting Existing Dwelling and Safe Construction” took off today organised by the State Disaster Management Authority, Meghalaya in technical collaboration with the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM).
Commissioner and Secretary Revenue R. Lyngdoh who inaugurated the seminar held at the Shillong Club pointed to the risk that Meghalaya faces as it falls under Zone V of the seismic zone and lamented over the unplanned growth of high-rise buildings across the state. She said that such structures could contribute to a disaster in case an earthquake strikes.
In addition to numerous initiatives taken by SDMA to create awareness and engage all stakeholders in disaster risk mitigation, she informed that efforts are on to engage the community and volunteers under the Aapda Mitra Scheme and in the second phase of the project five districts of the State including East Khasi Hill, West Khasi Hills, Ri Bhoi, West and East Garo Hills district will be included under the scheme.
Questioning the safety of buildings, workplaces and hospitals, she stressed on the need to evaluate the safety of such buildings and also on the importance of retrofitting.
Others who spoke were Prof. Chandan Ghosh, NIDM and Prof. Devesh Walia, NEHU.
