RWAs feel that the time is ripe for residents to be well-versed with the basics of disaster management to cope with sudden calamity.
For an architect and builder, perhaps nothing is more satisfying and challenging than building taller buildings. Governed by the need of the hour, with pressures on the availability of land increasing, the only way to expand is skywards. But are these high rise buildings that dot the Dwarka Sub-city also measuring up to safety standards of strength and resistance to natural as well as man created calamities? Perhaps not all can claim to be meeting all these requirements.
With the national capital region (NCR) sitting on the faultline, the need for following safety norms for high rise buildings and having an appropriate disaster management plan in place is of extreme importance and something that should be topmost in the list of priorities of each RWA. "Most of the time the residents of apartments do not know the basics of reacting to an accident or disaster. Things like emergency exits and excape routes, fire control mechanisms, etc, need to be regularly updated and residents made aware of all theses facilities," explains RP singhal, an RWA member.
Recent fires and mishaps in some apartments in high rise buildins of the sub-city also raises question about whether the procedures and equipement meant for fighting such accidents are every used at all. There is a need to have mock fire drills and training from the fire brigade and disaster management experts on evacuation during fires or earthquakes, use of fire extinguishers, etc. Unfortunately, it is our common experience that we all exhibit only a knee-jerk raction and are stirred out of our complacncy only after a disaster. At times this may be too late and may prove too costly.
The recent accident involving a CNG pipe burst resulting in a resident getting seriously injusred also raises questions about the role of various agencies involved in providing such utilities, their adherence to safety standards and knowledge about emergency operations. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) set up by the government also lays out safety codes and standards for buildings an residential construction. There are adequate, time-tested methods and mechanisms to manage disaster even if one cannot predict it. The effort should should be to mitigate the damage to human life and property.
