Concrete buildings in city adding to threat
By Our Reporter
Shillong: Last month’s devastating earthquake, which shook Sikkim and the whole of North East and north India, has raised many questions amongst the people of the State over construction of concrete houses and buildings.
In the past 30 years, Shillong has transformed from being a small hill station to a bustling township, and eventually to becoming a crowded city.
It was seen that Assam type houses that once bore the identity of the city have gradually disappeared only to be replaced by concrete buildings thereby increasing the risk.
It may be noted that the State lies in Seismic zone five, which is the highest risk zone.
“Modern technology has come a long way in making this possible,” a local resident said, referring to the array of concrete buildings that have come all over the city. He also added that the transformation is highly dangerous to the people of the city and the North East.
Meanwhile, a recent notification issued by the State Government for implementation of the Meghalaya Building Bye Laws 2011, wherein, the limit of a building’s height was raised from 42ft to 65ft for residential apartments and upto 90ft for commercial buildings has drawn severe flak from various quarters.
Experts are of the opinion that the most plausible alternative is to go back to constructing wooden houses primarily because they are safer and healthier to live in and secondly because the colour of the wood brings a sense of warmth and serenity, while adding to the beauty of the house.
The experts also believe that wooden log houses are eco-friendly and the most convenient and comfortable building construction for human beings because the building material maintains optimal humidity and oxygen balance.
“For a region like ours which is prone to frequent tremors, these log houses are ideal for addressing safety concerns,” said North East Distributor of the Maharaja Environment Technologies Company, Andrew Ropmay said.
He further said that people could turn back to the Assam type houses with a modern touch to them.