No seismologist can predict exactly when an earthquake will occur and what its intensity would be. Preparedness therefore is the best defence. But how prepared is Meghalaya to deal with an earthquake such as the one that shook Nepal on Saturday? True there have been disaster management drills carried out from time to time but these have not been consistent. However, there are some precautions that the state as the custodian of public security can and should have taken considering that Meghalaya falls in Zone 5 of the seismic belt which is most risky and highly vulnerable zone. It is not for nothing that the British constructed single-storied or at best two-storied light, wooden, houses whose walls were plastered with a mixture of lime and sand. Such houses would not cause the devastation that the concrete monsters of today would, if a Nepal-type of earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale had to occur here.
In recent times Shillong is witnessing five and six storied buildings coming up. The argument given by those who have constructed such residential flats is that there is scarcity of land especially in the Municipal areas and the European Wards where non-tribals can purchase property. This argument only exposes the fact that the State Government of Meghalaya has not taken the onus of expanding the ambit of the township and to include a European Ward type of arrangement where the permanent non-tribal residents can have a roof over their heads since their population is also on the increase. The dog in the manger policy cannot work in a State which is known for its cosmopolitan nature even before the British came here. It is important for the State Government to extend the township in several directions with the possibility of creating residential townships without allowing the buildings to over-shoot the permitted limit of G+3.
The High Court of Meghalaya had ordered the demolition of additional floors constructed by some individuals who have violated the building laws of the Meghalaya Urban Development Authority (MUDA). But the writ of MUDA does not run beyond the Municipal areas. Areas falling under Greater Shillong or beyond it are allowing construction of 5-6 storied buildings. Can there be two sets of laws within a State? The High Court needs to take cognisance of this violation. Otherwise a jolt which is long awaited in the Meghalaya plateau will see a similar if not worse devastation as happened in Nepal and more lives lost in the debris.
