Guwahati: A large number of school and hospital buildings in the city face major structural vulnerabilities and are prone to hazards like fire, flood and landslides, according to a study.
The survey by the Assam Engineering College (AEC), Guwahati, covered 770 schools and 48 hospitals in the city.
The results of the study were discussed during the Fifth meeting of the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) chaired by Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi at his official residence here last evening, an official release said on Tuesday.
“A report on the status of survey of schools and hospitals of Guwahati city by the AEC presented in the meeting showed that 34 per cent of schools in Guwahati had major structural vulnerability, 74 per cent had major non-structural vulnerability, 5 per cent are prone to urban flood and 8 per cent to landslides,” the release said.
The survey report also showed that nearly 50 per cent of the hospitals in the city either do not have disaster management plans or have never conducted simulation drills.
“Further 23 per cent of city hospitals do not have structural drawings available for conducting a structural assessment of the same and 19 per cent of hospitals in the city are also prone to major fire hazards,” the statement said.
With a view to minimise damages during the event of any calamity and deal effectively with such events, Gogoi underscored the need for all the departments in the state to have disaster management plans in place.
“The Chief Minister directed the Education Department to issue necessary instructions to the schools for rectifying the vulnerabilities. Gogoi further directed the Education Department to initiate steps for all the Government schools that are a part of the list of vulnerable schools,” it said.
Gogoi also asked the Education Department and the Kamrup Metro district administration to ensure that the non- government institutions too have a proper disaster management plan in place and adopt safety measures. (PTI)