{"id":70072,"date":"2026-03-25T18:48:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T13:18:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=70072"},"modified":"2026-03-25T18:49:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T13:19:17","slug":"safer-building-codes-delay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/25-03-2026\/safer-building-codes-delay","title":{"rendered":"Cost Concerns Delay Safer Building Codes Despite Himalayan Threats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Disaster Management<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India\u2019s earthquake safety codes are under scrutiny<strong> after the government withdrew updated building standards <\/strong>backed by a decade of scientific research.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Background<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A decade of government-backed studies involving <strong>experts in seismology, geology, and structural engineering clearly indicate:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Existing seismic hazard assessments are outdated or conservative.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Potential earthquake damage to residential buildings, bridges and dams.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Bureau of Indian Standards <strong>withdrew updated earthquake-resistant design norms<\/strong> due to the concerns from Cabinet Secretariat that stricter norms would:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Increase project costs, Affect ongoing infrastructure (e.g., metro rail projects).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The IS 1893 \u2018Criteria for Earthquake Resistant Design of Structures\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It is a five-part document published by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It provides the mandatory guidelines that engineers and architects must follow to ensure buildings and infrastructure can survive seismic activity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India\u2019s seismic zoning maps delineate the country into four zones (Zone 2II, III 3, IV4 and V5).\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Zone 2 II is the calmest part of India\u2019s seismic landscape.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Gaps in Earlier Zoning Framework<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Retrospective Zoning Approach:<\/strong> Earlier seismic zoning classified areas (Zone IV\/V) only after major earthquakes, making it reactive rather than predictive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Underestimation of Seismic Gaps: <\/strong>Regions with pent-up tectonic strain but no recent earthquakes were wrongly treated as low-risk.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Neglect of Local Soil Conditions:<\/strong> The framework ignored soil amplification effects, which can significantly increase ground shaking and structural damage.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Underutilisation of Seismic Data:<\/strong> Data from 168 monitoring stations under the National Centre for Seismology was not fully incorporated into hazard assessments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Inadequate Scientific Methodology: <\/strong>Lack of adoption of Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Assessment (PSHA) led to incomplete and less accurate risk estimation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Short Seismic Record:<\/strong> India\u2019s instrumental earthquake record is only about a century old, while historical records are patchy and incomplete, making long-term risk assessment difficult.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Highlights of New Standards<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Large Population at Risk:<\/strong> About 79% of India\u2019s population lives in regions prone to moderate to severe earthquakes, highlighting the urgency of updated seismic standards.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Higher PGA Values in New Map: <\/strong>Revised hazard map proposes significantly higher Peak Ground Acceleration values (up to 0.75 g), nearly doubling estimates in high-risk zones.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Introduction of Zone VI:<\/strong> A new seismic Zone VI has been introduced for areas with PGA > 0.6 g, especially in the Himalayas and Northeast, improving risk differentiation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Improved Scientific Basis:<\/strong> The new assessment uses a large dataset (69,000+ earthquakes from 2600 BC\u20132019) and advanced probabilistic methodology, making it more reliable.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Global Alignment:<\/strong> Revised PGA values align India with global practices, countries like Japan and the US often design for ~1 g or higher in high-risk regions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) measures earthquake intensity, commonly expressed as a fraction of gravity (g).\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Values typically range from under 0.10g (low seismicity) to over 0.30g (high seismicity), with extreme events exceeding 1.0g.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>While the revised seismic map is scientifically robust and closer to reality, its implementation raises serious concerns about affordability, feasibility, and enforcement, creating a classic policy dilemma between safety and cost.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/science\/cost-concerns-delay-safer-building-codes-despite-himalayan-threats\/article70758079.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> India\u2019s earthquake safety codes are under scrutiny after the government withdrew updated building standards backed by a decade of scientific research. <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> Background <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> A decade of government-backed studies involving experts in seismology, geology, and structural engineering clearly indicate: <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Existing seismic hazard assessments are outdated or conservative. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Potential earthquake damage to residential buildings, bridges and dams. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/25-03-2026\/safer-building-codes-delay \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70072"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70075,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70072\/revisions\/70075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}