‘Earthquakes don’t kill people, buildings do’

The safety precautions taken in India to lessen the effects of natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunami is poor said TG Sitharam, chairman, Centre for Infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning, IISc. Delivering a talk on ‘Engineering preparedness for disaster mitigation’ at the Institution of Engineers, on the 44th Engineer’s Day celebration, Sitharam said that India lagged behind in its preparedness to mitigate natural disasters.

“In India, everyone wakes up only after a disaster has occurred and forgets about it within months,” he said.

He added that in the case of earthquakes, there are two ways to minimise loss of life.

“One, the ground should be engineered to transmit less vibrations to structures, and two, the structures should be designed to withstand vibrations. Engineering is crucial, as earthquakes do not kill people, it is the buildings that kill people,” he said.

Sitharam also said that educating the public is also very important to mitigate disasters.

“In India, nobody knew about tsunami until it hit the coast in 2004. People did not know what to do when it occurred and as result, a lot of lives were lost,” he said.